Time With My Father
by protejerinnocencia
Summary: Two years after Patty died, Grams meets her demise. The girls must now reunite with their estranged father in order to survive. Can Victor handle three newly magical daughters?
1. Prologue

_Prologue_

The bus pulled up to the faded red Victorian house on Prescott Street. The brakes squeaked as the door slid open and three girls stepped off. The driver waved to them before shutting the door and continuing on with his route. The oldest of the girls ushered the other two up the steps and to the front door. She tried the knob but found it locked.

"Prue lost her key again," Phoebe taunted, receiving a glare from her older sibling.

"Grams is going to be mad," Piper added as she watched Prue search under the mailbox for the spare.

"Not if no one tells her," Prue countered, eyeing her younger sisters sternly. She found the extra key and inserted it in the lock. With a swift push the ten-year-old had the door open and stepped inside. Phoebe pushed the front door shut with all the strength she could muster with her five-year-old arms.

'Girls, is that you?" Penny Halliwell called.

"Yeah, it's us, Grams," Prue replied, heading into the kitchen. Grams was standing over a large pot on the stove.

"Hi Grams," Piper greeted, giving her grandmother a hug and trying to peak over the edge of the pot.

"No peeking. It's a surprise," Grams chided, ruffling Piper's hair.

"How was school today?" she addressed her other two granddaughters.

"Prue lost her key again," Phoebe repeated, getting swift kick in the shin from Prue.

"Prudence," Grams said sternly.

"Tattle tale," Prue muttered out of the corner of her mouth. Without another word, the ten-year-old stormed out of the room. Phoebe started to giggle but caught Grams' disapproving look.

"Phoebe that wasn't very nice to tell on your sister," the aged woman scolded.

"Sorry," Phoebe mumbled.

"Go tell that to your sister," her grandmother ordered. With an over exaggerated huff, Phoebe scurried off upstairs.

"Grams," Piper called, sounding a little scared.

"What is it dear?" Penny questioned turning around to find her middle grandchild pointing at the pot.

"It's bubbling," the eight-year-old informed her. Quickly, Penny turned the heat of the burner down. The contents of the pot began to settle down.

"Thank you sweetheart. Now why don't you run along and see what your sisters are doing," she suggested. Piper nodded and dutifully headed upstairs. She headed to the room she shared with Phoebe to drop off her backpack. Just as she set it on her bed, she heard her sister's in the next room. She hurried in to find Prue glaring at a sniffling Phoebe.

"What happened?" the middle child questioned.

"Prue pushed me," the five-year-old whimpered.

"I did not," Prue denied.

"Grams said for Phoebe to apologize for ratting on you. You didn't have to push her," Piper interjected.

"I swear I didn't touch her!" Prue protested. Regardless, she bent down and pulled her baby sister into a hug.

"I'm sorry Pheebs," she murmured, stroking the little girl's hair.

"Me too, Prue," Phoebe whispered.

"You need any help with your homework?" Prue asked.

"Since when do you help Phoebe with her homework? That's my job," Piper commented.

"Well didn't you say you had a lot of homework? I don't so I'll help her today," Prue answered.

Phoebe got up and ran to grab her backpack, leaving Piper alone in their room. She sat down on her bed and pulled out her math book. She hated math but Grams told her that she was good at it. She flipped through to the middle of the book and rummaged for a pencil in her bag. Back in Prue's room, she and Phoebe were curled up on her bed, reading together.

Downstairs, Grams was siphoning the contents of the pot into vials, bottling each with a cork. Once she'd bottled several batches, she tucked them away in the cabinet above the sink, out of the reach of the girls. Just as she set to cleaning the pot out, a noise caught her attention. She slowly turned around but nothing was there. She knew better than to dismiss something like this. She cautiously walked into the conservatory but found nothing. Next she found herself in the dining room when the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She spun around and came face to face with a grotesque looking creature. His dark blue skin hung off his face like the jowls of a basset hound. Penny took a step back, colliding with the table.

"Don't scream," the demon hissed, flashing her a set of pointy yellow teeth.

"What do you want?" Penny asked, losing her usual confidence around demons. All she could focus on was the girls upstairs. She had to protect them. They were more vulnerable now than they had ever been.

"What any demon wants witch," he snickered and sent her flying over the table. She pulled herself up and sent him flying into the nearby wall.

"You're attempts are pathetic," he hissed, advancing on her.

"You can't have them. They don't have their powers. They're of no use to you," Penny tried to argue.

"But they will have them…once you're out of the way," he cackled.

Back upstairs, Piper looked up from her homework. She thought she'd heard a crash. She tossed her book aside and crept out into the hallway. She didn't see anything but she still got a bad feeling. Quickly Piper turned and walked into Prue's room.

"Did you hear a crash?" she asked her older sister.

"No, why?" Prue replied.

"I thought I heard something downstairs," the eight-year-old answered with a shrug. Suddenly there were footsteps on the stairs, causing all three girls to look up.

Penny was trying to move as fast as she could. She had to protect her granddaughters. She turned and almost slipped. He was standing there, a devious grin on his lips as he plunged his hand forward and into her chest. Penny's eyes widened in fear and shock as she felt the life slip out of her. It was painful, she could feel his clawed hand wrapped around her heart, willing it to stop. She gave a shuttered breath as her heart stopped beating. The demon pulled his hand out and watched as Grams fell down the stairs. He heard three pair of footsteps coming and shimmered out.

"Grams!" Piper shouted, running down the stairs at lightning speed to her grandmother's side. Phoebe looked down the stairs and clutched Prue's hand, burying her face in her sister's side. Slowly Prue led her baby sister down the stairs. The oldest managed to get a free hand to check for a pulse.

"She….she's dead," Prue rasped. This couldn't be happening. It was too soon. First her mother and now her grandmother. Without a sound she got up and started walking towards the kitchen.

"Prue. What are you doing?" Piper cried, not wanting to leave Grams' side.

"Calling the ambulance," Prue answered, her young voice hollow.


	2. The Funeral

_The Funeral_

Prue watched as the paramedics loaded Grams' body into a black body bag. Her eyes followed the tall man's hand as it zipped the bag up. She couldn't watch anymore. It made her feel sick. She turned around walked into the conservatory where Piper and Phoebe sat huddled together.

"What's going to happen to us?" Phoebe asked, her voice diminutive in volume.

"I don't know Pheebs," Prue answered truthfully.

She had heard the paramedics talking. They said Grams had a heart attack. It all felt eerily familiar to the ten-year-old. She closed her eyes and the scene that filled her eyes made tears slither down her cheeks. She saw the paramedics loading her mother's soaked, dead body onto a gurney. She opened her eyes again and rubbed at the tears with her sleeve so neither of her siblings would see. She had to be strong for them. She sat down on the couch next to Piper. Piper had tears in her eyes and she couldn't fight them. She was really scared.

"I'm scared," she voiced, laying her head on Prue's shoulder.

"I know you are. We all are," Prue whispered in a motherly tone. So it came down to this. She had to take of her sisters now.

Back in the hallway the medics had wheeled Grams' body out of the house and were loading it into the ambulance. Just then a tall woman walked in and was headed in the direction of the conservatory. Prue looked up first and saw the woman standing in the doorway. She was wearing a grey pants suit with her dark blond hair swept out of her face in a graceful bun.

"Hi girls," she greeted softly, moving into the room and sitting in the chair opposite them.

"Who are you?" Phoebe asked through a loud sniffle.

"Phoebe, don't be rude," Piper scolded only halfheartedly.

"It's ok. My name is Janice. I'm a social worker," the woman introduced herself.

"You can't split us up," Prue stated instantly.

"I know you're very upset right now," Janice tried to counter.

"No. You don't know anything about us. You aren't taking my sisters away from me," Prue snapped defiantly.

"Well I know that you just lost your grandmother and that is a very emotional experience," Janice stated calmly.

"Prue, maybe we should listen to her. We don't have anywhere to go," Piper whispered.

"Fine. On one condition," Prue mumbled. Janice nodded.

"You keep us together," Prue stated her demands as calmly as she could.

"I will do everything in my power to keep you girls together," Janice promised. Seeming satisfied that her wish would be granted, Prue stood up and took a sister in each hand and led them after Janice. She led them outside and to her car.

"Where are we going?" Phoebe asked, looking fearfully back at the Manor.

"We're going to put you girls in a temporary house overnight until we can arrange a funeral for your grandmother," Janice replied.

"Why can't we stay here?" Prue interjected.

"Well won't you be scared. It's a very big house," Janice answered.

"No. We lived here our whole lives. We're not scared," the eldest sister stated, stopping dead in her tracks. Janice let out a breath.

"Ok. But why don't we go get something to eat. You girls must be hungry," she suggested. Prue looked at her sisters and they nodded. Slowly they climbed into the back of the car. Janice climbed in the driver side and took off down the street.

An hour later the girls found themselves back in the protectiveness of the Manor. Prue was sitting at the dining room table, looking a framed picture. Piper, after making sure Phoebe was ok in the other room, joined her older sister.

"What are you looking at?" Piper inquired. Prue turned the framed photograph so Piper could see it. It was a picture of Patty, their mother, and all three girls.

"I found it in Grams' room," Prue answered.

"We're not supposed to go into Grams' room without permission," Piper murmured.

"Piper, Grams is dead," Prue spat. She immediately felt guilty and gave her sister an apologetic hug.

"I miss her," Piper sniffed, taking in the smiling image of their mother. It was two years ago that they had lost her but right now, today, it felt like just yesterday.

"We all do," Prue assured her. Just then, the front door opened and Janice walked in. She walked past Phoebe and into the other room. Seeing the woman, Phoebe got up and ran into the other room as well.

"How are you girls doing?" Janice asked.

"Fine," Prue replied.

"Are you going to stay with us?" Phoebe asked innocently.

"Tonight, yes. We've arranged for the funeral tomorrow morning. So you girls should get to bed," the social worker explained. Prue looked at the clock.

"It's only seven o'clock. We don't go to bed until at least nine," she informed the woman.

"Well, right now I think you should go to bed. It's been a long day," Janice said firmly. Prue rolled her eyes but got up, picture still in hand, and once more ushered her siblings from the room.

"I don't want to go to bed, Prue," Phoebe whined. Prue just picked Phoebe up around the middle and sprinted up the stairs, Piper hot on her heels.

"Shh," Prue ordered, setting the youngest Halliwell back on her feet once they'd reached Prue's room.

"I don't like her," Piper commented quietly, sitting down on Prue's bed.

"Me either. I don't trust her. We're not little kids, well Phoebe is but you and I aren't. She's not Mom or Grams so she can't tell us what to do," Prue agreed. The three sisters lapsed into silence as the moon began to rise in the night sky. Time ticked by slowly and with it the girls became drowsy. Phoebe fell asleep, resting in Piper's lap.

"Here help me," Piper whispered and together she and Prue managed to get Phoebe under the covers.

"I don't want to sleep in the other room tonight," Piper whispered to her older sibling.

"You can sleep in here tonight. It will be tight but its better to be together," Prue answered and both girls climbed in.

The morning dawned early for the Halliwell sisters. The sun shown through the curtains onto Prue's face. She groaned and rubbed her eyes. The first thing she saw made her jump. Janice was standing in the doorway, a sickly-sweet smile on her face.

"Good morning, Prudence," she greeted, moving into the room, three black dressed draped over her arm.

"Don't call me that," Prue snapped, shaking Piper until she woke up.

"What's going on?" Piper mumbled, still half asleep.

"I got dresses for you. I hope they fit. I'll have breakfast ready in a half hour," Janice said and handed the garments over to Prue before leaving the room.

"Here. You can use the bathroom first. I'll get Phoebe up," Prue instructed her eight-year-old sister. Piper tentatively took the dress and headed down the hall. Prue bent over the still sleeping Phoebe, brushing a lock of hair from her face. The motion startled the child from her slumber.

"What's….Prue I had a really bad dream…Grams was dead and this scary social worker lady was trying to be our new mom," Phoebe said, clutching at her older sister.

"Honey…Grams is dead," Prue whispered, preparing herself for the onslaught of tears. She rocked Phoebe until the tears stopped and Piper returned, wearing the plain black dress.

"Come on, Pheebs lets get you dressed," Piper called, extending her hand to the five-year-old. Phoebe wiped at her eyes as she took Piper's hand. Prue watched them go and set about putting on her own dress. She stared at herself in the mirror. She looked pale in the garment. She hated black. It always reminded her of death and loss. Prue didn't hear her sisters come back into the room.

"Stop tugging on it," Piper scolded.

"But it's itchy. I don't like it," Phoebe pouted.

"Look, Pheebs. Just keep it on for the funeral. You can take it off right after," Prue promised. As she had done the day before, she took each of her sisters by the hand and led them downstairs. They were met by Janice who ushered them to the table. Three plates of heavily scorched pancakes sat waiting.

"Eat up. We have to leave soon," Janice ordered, disappearing in the direction of the living room.

"Where's the syrup?" Phoebe asked, looking shocked. They always had syrup with pancakes.

"I'll go get it," Piper muttered. She pushed her chair back and headed into the kitchen. Pans and batter covered the counter and some spots on the floor. She looked horrified at the state of the kitchen. Grams would never have stood for such a mess. But Grams wasn't here. So she moved around the puddles of goopy batter and retrieved the syrup from the cabinet next to the sink.

"Here," she stated, setting it in front of her baby sister.

"Thanks," Phoebe murmured, pouring a large amount of the sugary liquid on the dry breakfast. All three of them managed to down the pancakes with an ample amount of syrup and several glasses of orange juice.

"Finished, girls?" Janice asked, walking back in as if on cue.

'We have to clean up first," Piper started to say.

"We can do that later. We have to get going. Don't want to be late for your Grams' funeral," the woman said with a smile.

"You don't have to sound so happy about it," Prue grumbled as she grabbed their coats from the front hall closet. They donned the coats and once more found themselves in the social worker's car.

They arrived at a small church and were nearly dragged out of the back seat. Prue looked around. She didn't recognize many of the people here. The unfamiliarity caused her to keep tighter grip on her siblings. They sat in the front row of the pews in the sanctuary and watched silently as a grey haired minister performed the celebration of their grandmother's life. Prue barely remembered her mother's funeral. At that moment she wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not. Piper fidgeted with her hair, getting the feeling someone was watching her. As inconspicuously as she could, she turned her head but found no one there. When she turned around again, Prue was tugging at her sleeve to stand up.

"Can we go home now?" Phoebe asked, once more tugging at the dress.

"I think we have to ask Janice," Piper stated. Just then, Prue looked to the back of the church and nearly fell over. Standing there next to Janice was none other than Victor Bennett, their father. She wasn't sure whether to be happy about his presence or not. Janice looked cross but her features suddenly softened when she saw the girls looking at her. She motioned for them to join her and Victor. Prue slowly dragged Piper and Phoebe to the back of the church.

"Good news girls. Your father has agreed to take you," Janice said, trying to sound happy.

"Wow. He's actually being a father. That's a first," Prue spat.

"Prudence," Victor said sternly.

"We want to go home and change," Piper interjected shyly. She remembered the day Victor left. She'd cried for hours. Victor scratched the back of his neck and cleared his throat.

"Ok. Well let's get your coats and we'll stop by the Manor so you can change," Victor muttered.

"Thanks for taking care of them," Victor whispered to Janice.

"Of course," she said with that sickly-sweet smile she'd had earlier that morning when she'd woken them up.

The Halliwell sisters followed after their father and pulled on their coats once more. Prue shot one last look over her shoulder at Janice. The woman gave a small wave which made the ten-year-old roll her eyes again. She got a really bad feeling from that woman.


	3. Moving Out

_Moving Out_

The walk to the car was silent as Prue protectively gave Phoebe's hand a squeeze. They reached the vehicle and Victor turned to face the girls, looking a bit nervous.

"She doesn't need a car seat or anything does she?" he asked.

"I'm five not two," Phoebe snapped, crossing her arms over her chest like she'd seen Prue do many times before.

"Just checking," he mumbled before pulling the door open so the girls could get in. The drive back to the Manor was quiet, only punctuated by the brakes stopping and starting at the stop lights. Phoebe was growing restless, forever tugging on the dress.

"Phoebe, stop it," Prue demanded, giving her baby sister the 'Grams evil eye'. Phoebe immediately stopped tugging on the garment. Victor just shook his head slightly as he pressed down on the gas, speeding down Prescott Street until he reached the old Victorian. He put the car in park and cut the engine. He had to take in the old house. He hadn't been there in two years.

"We're here," he announced and climbed out of the vehicle. The girls hurriedly unbuckled their seatbelts and bolted from the back seat. Prue pulled her key from her small purse. She'd found it in her desk drawer that morning before heading down to breakfast. She stuck it into the lock and pushed the door open. Victor followed his daughters into the house, closing the door behind him. Without a word, Prue led her siblings upstairs. Phoebe sprinted into her and Piper's room and began pulling open drawers, trying to find something to wear.

"Phoebe those are my clothes!" Piper exclaimed, seeing the five-year-old holding one of Piper's favorite shirts.

"You have better clothes," Phoebe muttered, shrugging it off. Piper grabbed the shirt from the child's grip and tossed it back into the bottom drawer of her dresser. With a huff she pulled open Phoebe's drawer and pulled out a pair of overalls and a long sleeve shirt.

"Here, you can wear this," Piper stated, tossing the clothes at her baby sister. Phoebe, with Piper's help, climbed out of the dress and into the play clothes. In the next room over, Prue was pulling her hair back into a ponytail. The black dress lay in a heap on the floor. She wore jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt. Just as she set her brush back on her dresser Phoebe came bounding in.

"You're supposed to knock first," Prue scolded.

"Not when the door is open," Phoebe retorted. Piper soon joined them, wearing the shirt Phoebe had been eying. The picture of the three girls and Patty sat on Prue's desk. They all looked so happy.

"Can we put the picture downstairs?" Piper asked.

"Ok," Prue answered, reaching for the only reminder of their mother. Upon descending the stairs, they found Victor, looking none too pleased.

"What happened in the kitchen?" he asked.

"We didn't do it. The social worker lady made the mess," Phoebe answered.

"Prue? Piper? Is that that what happened?" he asked, eying the two older girls.

"Yeah. We didn't do it. I went in to get syrup and it was all messy like that. We said we had to clean up but she made us leave," Piper explained hurriedly. He ran a hand through his hair and looked around.

"Alright, well someone needs to clean it up. So why don't we all do it together. It will go faster," Victor suggested. Prue let out a groan but started the hot water and began scrubbing plates and silverware. Piper grabbed the sponge and began to sop up the hardened pancake batter from the counter.

"What can I do, Daddy?" Phoebe asked of Victor. Prue cringed slightly at the last word. She had to remind herself that Phoebe was young and didn't understand what had happened.

"Why don't we mop the floor," Victor answered and went in search of a bucket and mop. He handed the bucket to Prue who shoved it under the tap to fill it with water.

"Don't forget the soap," the five-year-old reminded. Prue reached under the sink, pulling out the box of soap and pouring some in. Roughly she handed it back to Victor. He gave her a stern look but she ignored it. Soon he was guiding Phoebe around the kitchen, cutting a large swath with the mop.

"Everything's clean," Piper announced, sounding proud. Prue wiped her hands with a semi-damp dish rag and tucked a few strands of dark hair behind her ears.

"That was fun," Phoebe giggled. Prue just shook her head and left the room. Piper watched her sister go. She didn't entirely understand it but she knew her sibling didn't trust their father.

"Well, I know you girls have had a very long two days but I think it would be better for everyone if we start packing your things up," Victor suggested.

"Packing? Where are we going?" Piper inquired.

"Well…to move in with me," he answered. Piper's brow furrowed. She didn't lie the sound of that. Quietly she headed upstairs. Feeling left out, Phoebe scurried after Piper.

"Girls!" Victor called out but he got no response. Piper and Phoebe ended up at Prue's closed door. Piper knocked.

"Prue can we come in?" she called through the wooden barrier. The lock clicked and Prue appeared.

"What's wrong? What did he do?" Prue asked.

"We're moving," Piper murmured, pushing past her older sister. Phoebe slipped through the gap between Prue and the doorframe.

"We're what?" Prue rasped.

"He said we should start packing," Piper added.

"No. We're not moving. He can't tell us what to do," Prue spat.

"But Prue…he's our Dad," Phoebe piped up. Piper caught Prue's eye and gave her a warning look.

"Prue, please don't," Piper begged before Prue could say something rude about Victor. As if on cue, the door opened and Victor walked in.

"This is my room. You can't just come in here," Prue shouted.

"Prudence, do not take that tone with me," Victor shot back.

"Get out!" the ten-year-old growled. Victor's hands balled into fists but he released them. Getting into an argument with her wouldn't solve anything. It hurt him that his first baby hated him.

"Start packing your things. We're moving," he said, his teeth clenched. With that he turned and left.

"You made him mad," Phoebe whimpered, looking at the anger on Prue's face.

"Come on, Pheebs. Let's start packing," Piper said softly, ushering her sibling into their room.

Piper pulled open the closet doors and pulled out their small suitcases. She set Phoebe's on her bed and helped her sister pack up her pajamas and favorite clothes.

"Don't forget socks and underwear," Piper added, pointing to the drawer. Phoebe giggled a little as she tossed the items in.

"Now you have to pack," the five-year-old stated.

"Thanks but I can do it myself," Piper responded as Phoebe once more dove into the eight-year-old's dresser.

"Can I go help Prue?" Phoebe asked.

"No. She doesn't need help either," Piper answered, folding her pants neatly before placing them the suitcase. Phoebe sighed and flopped down on her bed, her small legs barely hanging over the edge.

"Why do we have to move?" Phoebe asked after a brief silence.

"Because Dad said so," her sibling answered.

"Can we leave Prue here?" the five-year-old questioned.

"Phoebe that's a really mean thing to say," Piper scolded.

"Why? She wants to stay here. And I don't like it when she's mean to Daddy," Phoebe retorted, sitting up. Piper sighed, joining her sister.

"Prue and Dad have problems, ok," she tried to explain.

"What problems?" the younger girl pressed.

"I don't know. But she just doesn't like him. You can't hold it against her. She wasn't the one that left," Piper expounded as best she could. Her sister's comment subdued Phoebe. Piper pulled her suitcase to her, zipping it up.

"Come on, let's go downstairs," Piper murmured, helping Phoebe get a good grip on her suitcase.

Prue watched them walk down the hallway. She stepped back and shut her door. She had her suitcase on her bed but it wasn't open. She hated this. How dare he just walk back into their lives after two years and expect them to go anywhere with him. She knew he would come back if she didn't get downstairs soon. Begrudgingly she tossed clothes into the suitcase. She dragged it downstairs and found her sister sitting in the living room, their coats on.

"Dad is putting our suitcases in the car," Piper informed her older sister. Prue just set hers by the front door. She wasn't going to give him the courtesy of bringing it out to him.

"Is this the last suitcase?" Victor asked, poking his head into the room. Prue averted her gaze but Piper nodded for her.

"Alright come on then," he said, and the foursome climbed back into the car. Phoebe's eyes were glued to the window as she watched the shops and alleyways pass by. She had never seen this part of the city before.

"Where the heck do you live?" Prue grumbled, growing irritated by the long car ride.

"Watch your language around your sisters," Victor reprimanded. Twenty minutes later he pulled into a parking lot and helped the girls with their suitcases. He led them up to a four bedroom apartment.

"Each of you gets your own room," he said and gave them a brief tour of the living quarters.

"Phoebe's not big enough for her own room," Prue stated.

"I am too big enough, Prue," Phoebe countered.

"You still get nightmares," Prue retorted.

"I do not," the five-year-old tried to argue but it was no use. Prue was older and was going to win.

"I'll let you get settled," Victor mumbled and disappeared into the remaining room.

The girls set about unpacking their suitcases into the dressers that lined the walls. Prue slammed the top drawer angrily. She didn't want to be here and she certainly did not want to have Victor telling her what to do.

That night passed quickly, ordering take out for dinner. Phoebe was tucked into bed around 8:45. Piper and Prue hit bed shortly thereafter. Prue drifted off to sleep both dreading and rejoicing that the next day was Saturday. In Phoebe's room, a shadowy figure hovered over the five-year-old. A ray of moonlight hit the figure, reflecting on dark blond hair. The child squirmed in her bed. With a shimmer the figure was gone, reappearing in Piper and then Prue's room. Once more the figure disappeared from view. She reappeared in a cave, a lone figure levitating.

"We are close. We need to strike soon. They have yet to receive their powers," the woman spoke.

"Must you use that disgusting form?" the demon hissed. The woman rolled her eyes and transformed into her demonic form.

"Why would we strike now? We want their powers. With their powers we will be revered throughout the Underworld," the demon snarled.

"We will have to get their father out of the way. But that won't be hard. He's a mortal," she said with a snicker.

"Then do it. I tire of waiting. I thought the witch's spell would have broken already," he ground out.

Back in the world of mortals, Phoebe sat bolt upright. She could have sworn she felt someone standing over her. She crawled from the bed and turned on the light, flooding the room. Nothing was there. Still, she got the eerie feeling like something was very wrong. As quietly as she could she padded to the next room to find Prue. She climbed into the bed, the ten-year-old, stirring from her sleep.

"Phoebe what are you doing?" Prue grumbled.

"I had a bad dream," the five-year-old whispered, snuggling closer to her older sibling. Sighing, Prue wrapped an arm around the child protectively.

"Go back to sleep, Pheebs," she murmured, giving the girl a kiss on the forehead as the both drifted back to sleep.


	4. Moving In

_Moving In_

The following morning Prue awoke to find that Phoebe had stolen most of the covers. The ten-year-old sighed and out of bed. She'd let Phoebe sleep. After all it was Saturday. She quietly wandered into Piper's room. The eight-year-old was sitting cross-legged on her bed, hugging a pillow to her chest.

"Morning Piper," Prue murmured, sitting down on the bed next to her sister. Piper looked at her older sister and scooted closer.

"I want to go home," Piper whispered, still clutching the pillow. It was then that Prue noticed the red rings around her sister's eyes and the dampness of the pillow.

"What's wrong?" Prue pressed.

"I miss my room. I miss the Manor. I don't like it here," Piper answered, sniffling softly. Prue wasn't sure what to say. She felt the exact same way. She wondered what made Piper change her mind overnight. Back in the other room, Phoebe woke up, finding herself alone.

"Prue," the five-year-old called out.

"In Piper's room," Prue called back. The five-year-old climbed out of the bed and wandered into the other room. She jumped onto Piper's bed and seeing that Piper had been crying, tackled her with a hug.

"Thanks, Pheebs," Piper said with a watery smile.

"I'm hungry," Phoebe announced, disentangling herself from her older sibling.

"I guess we should see if Victor is awake," Prue muttered. She received a slight shove in her shoulder from Piper. Prue just ignored the gesture. She led the younger two out into the living room area and then to the kitchen.

"I guess he's not awake yet," Piper commented.

"Should we wake him up?" Phoebe asked, fixing to head for his room.

"No. We can get our own breakfast," Prue answered. Phoebe sat down in one of the chairs surrounding the small table. She resituated herself on her knees so she could reach the table comfortably. Prue pulled open the fridge to find several six-packs of beer, a half-full carton of milk and some expired cheese.

"That's gross," she muttered in disgust.

"Piper, look in the cabinets over there," Prue ordered. The eight-year-old got up and began looking in the cabinets. She found bowls but no cereal.

"How can he not have breakfast," Prue ground out. She stormed off in the direction of Victor's room.

Behind the closed door, Victor was just getting up. He was about to pull open the shade when a bright light appeared before him, dissipating to reveal a woman. He jumped back, colliding with the window sill.

"P-Patty?" he rasped. This couldn't be happening. She was dead. She'd been dead for two years.

"Hello, Victor," Patty's ghost greeted.

"You're a…a…" he trailed off.

"A ghost," she concluded and he nodded.

"I…I don't understand. What…how…?" he babbled.

"Have a seat Victor," Patty ordered. He stumbled into a chair.

"I'm here because my mother hasn't mastered the ability of crossing over," she began.

"Your mom…just died," Victor managed to get out.

"Exactly," Patty said.

"Now, why don't you explain to me why you took the girls away from the Manor?" she demanded.

"Well…I…I just thought…it would be ok. I mean the house….belonged to your mother. I'm sure she wouldn't want me there," he tried to reply.

"The girls need to be in the Manor, Victor. They'll be coming into their powers any day now and they need the protection of the house," Patty snapped.

"I…I thought your mother…stopped all that," Victor muttered.

"The spell only lasted until she died," Patty answered as if it should be obvious.

"Well if what you're saying is true…that they're going to…get powers, then you should be thanking me for taking them away from the Manor. That place is a magnet for…evil," Victor countered.

"It is their destiny. I know they're young but it is what they were meant to do," Patty tried to impress upon her ex-husband.

"I told you I didn't want my daughters raised around all of this," he shot back.

"You don't have a choice. I'm sorry but you just don't. You need to get them back to the Manor as soon as you can," Patty said before disappearing into nothingness.

Back outside, Prue stopped. She could have sworn she had heard voices, her mother's voice. She knew it couldn't be real. It was probably just Victor talking to himself. She reached the door and knocked. A few minutes later the door was pulled open and Victor looked down at her.

"What is it?" he asked, trying to calm himself down.

"There's no food," she answered.

"I just went shopping," he muttered, leaving his room and heading for the kitchen area. Prue peered inside the still dark room but saw no one. She found Victor rummaging through the fridge.

"Way to be prepared," she muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" he asked, looking at her.

"Nothing," she replied.

"I guess we need to go shopping," he sighed.

"We could always go over to the Manor. We have lots of food there," Piper offered. Victor stopped cold for a moment. He got the strange feeling that it wasn't really Piper talking, that it was Patty somehow trying to remind him of the imminent danger his girls were about to find themselves in.

"Alright, fine. Go get dressed," he sighed.

The girls hurried back into their rooms. He returned to his room as well, half-expecting Patty to come back. When she did not return he grabbed some pants a clean shirt and got dressed. When he walked out of his room towards the bathroom, he found all three girls seated on the couch, ready to go. He held up a finger to let them know he needed a minute in the bathroom. Five minutes later they four of them found themselves back in Victor's car. The scene that greeted them as they drove up Prescott Street was jarring. A tall man was hammering a 'for sale' sign into the front lawn of the property. Prue barely gave Victor enough time to park the car before she jumped out and run up the man.

"What are you doing. We still live here," she said rudely.

"I'm sorry little girl but the lady that owned this house died," the man answered, giving her a crooked smile.

"Don't talk bad about my Grams you jerk," she spat.

"Prue let the man be," Victor ordered, finally joining her with Piper and Phoebe in toe.

"But he's trying to sell our house. He can't do that!" Prue protested.

"Energetic child," the man said with a wink.

"Look, they haven't had breakfast yet. Do you think we could just go in and get something to eat?" Victor asked.

"Of course," the real estate agent assured him. Victor ushered the girls up the front steps. He glanced over his shoulder at the man. He got a very bad feeling about this. He found the girls in the kitchen, each eating a bowl of cereal. Phoebe looked up at her father expectantly.

"Daddy, are we going to sell the house?" she asked innocently.

"Well…the house belonged to your Grams," he began. He wasn't sure if he could truthfully answer his daughter's question. He was still trying to make sense of seeing his dead ex-wife.

"Well I don't want to live with you in that boring apartment. So maybe you should just buy the house," Prue muttered.

"Prudence, can I talk to you in here, now?" Victor ground out. Prue stood up and trudged after her father into the conservatory.

"I do not appreciate the way you are treating me," Victor said sternly. Prue merely crossed her arms over her chest and averted her gaze.

"Prue, look at me," he demanded. She turned her gaze towards him.

"I know you resent me for leaving. I understand," he said, trying to keep his voice.

"Screw you," Prue spat and stormed out of the room and her feet pounded up the stairs.

"Prue get back down here," Victor bellowed but all he got was a slamming door in response. He turned around, fighting the urge to swear and was met with two pair of frightened eyes. Prue never said curse words, especially to adults.

"Why don't you girls go play upstairs. I have to take care of something," Victor murmured. Piper took Phoebe by the hand and led her upstairs into their room. Victor sighed and headed outside. The real estate agent was still there, leaning on the sign.

"Excuse me," Victor said, catching the man's attention.

"All finished?" the man asked.

"How much are you selling the house for?" Victor asked pointedly.

"Excuse me?" the real estate agent replied.

"How much are you selling the house for?" Victor repeated.

"Are you going to buy it?" the other man asked.

"Just tell me how much and I'll get the money," Victor said, starting to get irritated.

"I'll…have to check with the estate holder," he muttered and disappeared into a car a few driveways down. In the passenger seat, a familiar dirty blond sat.

"The father is trying to buy the house," the sales agent ground out.

"You were the one who decided to pose as a real estate agent, Robert," Janice hissed.

"We can't let them get the house," Robert grumbled.

"Just because he owns the house doesn't mean we can't take it over," Janice reminded him. He nodded and climbed out of the car, returning to where Victor stood.

"We're selling it for thirty thousand dollars," Robert answered. Victor pulled out his car keys and headed for his car. He rummaged through the glove compartment to get his checkbook. He grabbed a pen and ran back to where Robert stood.

"I'll give you half of it now and the other half this afternoon," Victor said, breathlessly as he wrote the fifteen thousand dollar check. He handed it to Robert and headed back inside. Piper was pacing in her room, Phoebe's eyes glued to her.

"Do you think Daddy is going to stay mad at Prue?" the five-year-old asked.

"I don't know. I've never seen Prue that mad, either," Piper answered. Just then footsteps echoed on the stairs and Victor poked his head into the room.

"Hi girls. We're going to head out in a few minutes to go pick up your things," he said. Phoebe let out a squeal and jumped off the bed, running to give Victor a hug. He ruffled her hair as he headed for Prue's room. The door was locked and he took a minute to compose himself. He knocked briskly but got no answer. He tried again but was still ignored.

"Prue, please open the door," he called. Footsteps resounded within and the lock clicked.

"What?" she asked.

"I thought I'd let you know that I just bought the house," he answered. She just stared at him.

"You did?" she finally managed to get out.

"Yes. So we should head back to the apartment so we can pick up your suitcases," he commented. Prue did her best to hide the content smile. She didn't want to show how happy she was. Half an hour later they were loading the rest of Victor's belongings into the car.

"So are you going to sell the apartment?" Piper asked as they climbed in.

"Well kiddo, my lease ends this month so I don't have to renew the contract," he explained, not sure if she would understand.

"We have to stop one more place before we get back to the Manor," he announced as they pulled out of the parking lot.

"Where, Daddy?" Phoebe piped up.

"I have to get some money to finish paying for the house," he replied. Piper looked at Prue, expecting a retort but she didn't give one. The car was quiet while Victor pulled up to a bank. He headed inside and within minutes came back out with a smile on his face.

"We're all set," he said and gave all three of his girls a smile. He hoped he was doing the right thing.

That night they enjoyed Chinese take out and a generally amicable atmosphere. Prue was just glad to be back in the home she had grown up in. She felt safe here, somehow protected even though the people she loved and had been there for her were now dead. She looked over at her baby sister who was asleep, leaning against Victor's shoulder.

"I'm going to put her to bed," Prue announced softly.

"You don't have to. I can," Victor answered and scooped the five-year-old up. It had been a while since he'd put one of his girls to bed. Piper soon headed up to bed, leaving Victor and Prue downstairs.

"It's getting late," he commented as the clock chimed ten o'clock.

Prue shrugged and climbed the stairs to bed. Victor took the empty take out boxes into the kitchen and tossed them in the trash. He was almost expecting to see Patty again, come to congratulate him on doing the right thing. What he didn't know was the miraculous event that was happening to his daughters. All three girls were deep in slumber as wispy white lights floated above each of them. The lights slowly descended, making the child glow for a moment. Each girl stirred briefly but none woke up. Their destiny had begun.


	5. Handy Man

_Handy Man_

The next morning dawned brightly. Prue climbed out of bed. She had a good feeling about today. Sure she had to deal with Victor but had done something for them. He had bought the house. She padded down the hall towards the bathroom. Just as she reached it, she saw the door to her mother's room closed. It bothered her slightly that he was in there. But she had to remind herself that he had slept in that room eight years. The ten-year-old shut the bathroom door and climbed into the shower. She emerged twenty minutes later feeling clean and energized. After she'd gotten dressed and dried her hair she headed downstairs. She found Phoebe seated on the couch, eyes glued to the television screen. She had a bowl of cereal in her lap, tilted at such an angle that the milk was in danger of spilling onto the carpet.

"Morning Pheebs," Prue greeted, taking the bowl and putting it on the table.

"You smell good," the five-year-old commented, tearing her eyes away from the screen briefly.

"Thanks…I think," her older sister muttered.

"So when did you get up?" she asked of the younger child.

"I don't know. Three episodes ago," Phoebe answered with a shrug.

"I'm happy Daddy bought the house," she said with a smile after a mouthful of cereal. Prue was about to say something when footsteps on the stairs caused her to turn her head. Piper appeared in her pajamas, her hair disheveled.

"Morning," Prue called but Piper just walked into the kitchen without so much as a word. Prue followed her, her brow furrowing with concern.

"Piper, are you ok?" she asked, finding her sister pouring herself a bowl of cereal.

"I had a bad dream," Piper mumbled. She sounded almost ashamed of the fact.

"What was it about?" Prue probed. Piper rarely had bad dreams anymore.

"Grams," Piper muttered. Prue wrapped her younger sibling in a forceful hug.

"We all miss her. It's going to take time to make it hurt less," Prue consoled.

"But I just saw her and then…she was dead," Piper sniffled, trying to fight the tears.

"Shh. It will be ok," Prue added, stroking her hair.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be crying," Piper apologized after a few more loud sniffles.

"You can cry. I won't tell," Prue replied with a soft laugh.

"Come on. Let's go make sure Phoebe doesn't start growing roots to the couch," Prue said, quoting a phrase Grams used to say when she thought the girls were spending too much time on the couch. The walked back in and once more Phoebe's bowl of cereal was precariously positioned in her lap.

"Phoebe watch out before you spill," Piper chided, setting her own bowl down. Phoebe didn't appear to be listening. She'd turned the volume up so loud that she'd even brought Victor downstairs.

"What's going on down here?" he asked, taking the remote from Phoebe's small hand and hit the minus sign on the volume.

"I was watching TV," Phoebe answered.

"With the volume so loud?" he asked. She just giggled, and her cereal finally landed on the floor.

"Phoebe!" Piper cried, cringing at the mess on the carpet.

"Oops," the five-year-old squeaked. Without a word, Piper ran into the kitchen and grabbed towels and a sponge. She tossed the towels at Prue who began cleaning up the mess while Piper tried to blot the milk stain out of the carpet. Phoebe just watched as her sisters worked. She could tell Piper was upset. She was a lot like Grams. Victor watched too. They could certainly take care of Phoebe.

"Next time, be more careful, Phoebe," Prue said before Piper could yell at her.

"I'm sorry," she whimpered, knowing how mad it was making Piper. She hated messes.

"It's ok, kiddo. It was an accident. How about you go get dressed and we go to the park," Victor suggested.

"That's lame. It's boring at the park. At the toys are for little kids," Prue remarked.

"I was trying to cheer your sister up," Victor stated once Phoebe was out of hearing range.

"Well then I want to stay here," Prue replied.

"I'm not leaving you alone in the house," he countered.

"I'm not a baby," she shot.

"And you're not old enough to stay by yourself," he retorted. She opened her mouth to say more but he stopped her.

"We're going to get something straight right now, Prudence. I am in charge now. I know you don't like that but you're going to have to accept it," he said sternly. Piper could sense the tension in the room and headed upstairs to get ready for the park too. Prue began to storm off towards the stairs too when Victor caught her by the wrist.

"You're coming with us," he stated and she knew the conversation was over. She didn't like losing, especially to him but she just walked away. She didn't want her morning to suck any more than it was already.

Down in the Underworld, Janice and Robert were pacing around each other. They had consulted a Seer and she had confirmed that the girls had come into their powers. The Power of Three had been born in them. Janice stopped walking and reverted to her demonic form. Her dark red flesh shone with excitement.

"They have their powers. We should attack while they still don't know how to use them against us," Janice said.

"Well do you suggest we go in as the people they trust?" Robert asked. He was in his demonic form as well.

"Do we want to traumatize the little witches?" she asked. He scratched his chin with a clawed finger.

"I could pose as the real estate agent come to collect the rest of the money and attack him," he suggested.

"But you got to kill the old witch. I want to kill him. To feel the life leave him," she complained.

"Fine. Go as the social worker then," he snarled. He hated arguing with her.

"You don't have to be so grumpy about it, Ravus," she chortled, using his demonic name.

"Just go," he bellowed. She shimmered out. He followed shortly afterwards to make sure she didn't screw this up. He wanted the Power of Three.

Back in Halliwell Manor Phoebe and Piper had finished getting dressed. Prue was sitting in her room, just staring at her hands. She really didn't want to go to the park. She didn't like the park. She wasn't sure why but it made her feel unsafe. Suddenly there was a soft knock on her door. She got up, slightly startled by the sound and opened it. Piper stood there, looking expectantly at her older sister.

"What, are we leaving or something?" Prue asked.

"No…can I come in?" she asked. Prue nodded.

"Is it about your dream?" Prue pressed.

"No…I just…felt really mad at Phoebe for spilling the cereal. I know she's just a kid and she didn't mean to but I felt….kind of like Grams was right there standing next to me and wanted to yell too," Piper explained.

"You were always really close to Grams. You liked to help her in the kitchen and stuff," Prue muttered as if to offer an explanation.

"I guess I just don't want to let her go," Piper sighed. Prue could understand. She had felt that way when their mother had died. Downstairs Victor had finished his breakfast when there was a shark knock on the front door.

"Who the hell?" he mumbled to himself as he pulled the door open. Janice stood before him with a smile on her lips.

"Uh…can I help you?" he asked, barring her way.

"I just came to check up on the girls. To make sure everything is ok," she lied, trying to get by.

"They're doing fine. We're getting by," Victor answered tersely.

"Well I'd like to talk to them, if that's alright," she tried, hoping that would get him to let her in.

"Well we're on our way out. So you'll have to come back later," Victor said and started to shut the door.

"Wait, Mr. Bennett. Please. I actually came to talk to you about custody," she said. That made him stop in his tracks. He made a noncommittal noise but let her in. He began leading her towards the conservatory, his back to her. She flicked her wrist and an athame appeared.

"Have a seat," he offered. She took one, concealing the weapon behind her back. He sat across from her and folded his hands in his lap.

"So what exactly did you need to talk to me about custody wise. They're my daughters," he began.

"Well…you're wife…and then your mother-in-law had custody of the girls. I'm not sure you're really fit to be raising them," she explained.

"Two days ago you were thrilled that I showed up to take the girls," he countered.

"Yes well that was before I looked into your history. Face it, Mr. Bennett, you've been an absent father," she accused.

"I had my reasons. And it wasn't because I didn't love my daughters," Victor shot back angrily. In the next room Ravus watched the exchange, cloaked by invisibility. His ears pricked up at the sound of footsteps. He caught Janice's eye. She cleared her throat and stood.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to take the girls away from you, Mr. Bennett. It's in the best interests of the children," she said. Victor jumped from his seat.

"I'm going to fight this, every step of the way," he shouted at her. Just then Piper appeared in the doorway. Seeing that Janice wasn't acting quickly enough, Ravus summoned the athame and uncloaked. Piper's eyes widened as a grotesque creature appeared out of nowhere and started running towards her father.

"No!" she shouted and threw her hands out, as if trying to stop him. For a second the two adults and the creature froze in mid motion. She took a step back, not knowing what she'd done.

"Prue!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. Footsteps thundered on the stairs and soon Prue and Phoebe had joined their middle sister.

"Whoah. What…happened?" Prue asked.

"I…I don't know," Piper admitted just as the room unfroze. Ravus lunged at Victor, plunging the knife into his stomach. He gave the girls a distorted smile before shimmering out. Janice, taking the opportunity that the girls were distracted bolted from the room. She would have shimmered but she didn't want to blow her cover. Once out of the Manor she shimmered back to the cave.

"How long do you think it will take for him to die?" she asked, annoyed that she hadn't been able to do the deed herself.

"Soon enough. They will be in shock. Two tragedies in a few days will paralyze them. By the time they call for help it will be too late," Ravus assured her.

Back in the Manor Victor lay on the ground, his hands trying to cover the wound, a halfhearted effort to keep the sight away from his daughters and to apply pressure.

"Prue do something," Piper demanded, her voice shrill.

"I…I…what do I do?" she asked, starting to panic.

"Call the ambulance," Piper ordered, starting to take charge. Prue began to move away towards the phone. Phoebe was seated by Victor's side, her eyes welling with tears.

"It's going to be ok, Phoebe. I'm not going anywhere," Victor spoke softly, trying to conserve his energy.

"Daddy," was all she managed to squeak out. Prue picked up the phone and simply stared at it. It was as if she was numb and couldn't move. She couldn't be losing all the adults in her life, even if she disliked Victor. She found that she could not deny that he was family.

"Prue what's taking so long?" Piper begged, snapping her older sister out of the daze. She started to dial the number when a bright swirl of blue and white lighters appeared, depositing a man in his mid twenties in the room. She girls looked at him in shock and fear.


	6. Healing Powers

_Healing Powers_

Prue moved closer to her sisters. She had no idea what was going on, or how this man just appeared. The young man took in the situation. Victor was lying on the ground, his body starting to shake in shock. The three girls were staring up at him. Phoebe was sobbing, burying her face in Piper's shoulder. The middle child looked up at the man.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"You don't have to be afraid. I'm here to help," he assured them, bending down to their eye level.

"Is my Daddy going to be ok?" Phoebe hiccupped out.

"I promise I'm not going to let anything bad happen to your Dad, Phoebe," he promised.

Without another word he focused his attention on Victor. He laid his hands above the knife wound in the older man's abdomen and they began to glow a golden color. The breath caught in Piper's throat as she watched the miracle before her. Slowly the wound began to knit itself back together, as did the fabric of his shirt. A couple minutes later it was as if nothing had happened. Victor opened his eyes and looked around and began to sit up.

"Easy. Just sit up slowly," the younger man instructed.

"Who are you? How did you…where did the social worker go? I'm so confused," Victor babbled.

"Just relax, Mr. Bennett. My name is Leo," he introduced. Slowly he helped Victor to his feet and led him into the next room where he could lie down on the couch.

The girls moved collectively towards the couch where Victor lay. His head was propped up with a pillow and he still looked a bit pale. Phoebe was still sniffling softly and clutching Piper's hand. Prue kept looking between her father and this other guy, Leo. She didn't know what had just happened. One minute her father was lying on the ground, dying and the next he was walking around. Leo turned to face the girls.

"Girls, could you go get a glass of water for your Dad?" he asked. Piper was the first scurry off and get the glass of water. Piper brought it over to Victor and he willingly accepted it.

"So…how did you get into the house?" Prue asked, arms crossed over her chest as she eyed Leo.

"You don't have to be threatened by me, Prue. I'm here to help you," Leo responded.

"You didn't answer my question," the ten-year-old retorted.

"Well…how do you think I got in?" he answered with a question of his own.

"I don't know," she mumbled.

"He used magic," Phoebe announced, her tears now dried. As the last word registered in Victor's brain he sat bolt upright. It couldn't really be happening. They couldn't…be witches. Piper looked at her baby sister with a raised eyebrow.

"How'd you get that idea, Pheebs?" the eight-year-old questioned.

"I don't know," the five-year-old murmured. Leo could sense the tension in the room. He knew he had been sent to guide the girls. After all they were just children and had no one to show them the craft. Victor was now on his feet and trying to put himself between Leo and the girls.

"Stay away from my girls," he ordered, having to support himself on the edge of a chair.

"Victor, I'm here to protect them, to guide them," Leo protested.

"How do you even know they are…you know," Victor spat back. Leo turned to face thee girls.

"Because I've been watching them. Piper has already used her power," Leo began.

"I did?" Piper commented, sounding confused.

"When the room stopped moving," he prompted her.

"That was me?" she breathed.

"Well that doesn't mean…that Phoebe or Prue have them," Victor protested.

"No, that means they just haven't used their powers yet," Leo countered. Prue was starting to get annoyed with the arguing. She didn't know what was going on but she wanted it to stop.

"Just stop," she shouted and the chair Victor was leaning on moved a few inches, making him teeter for balance. Prue's eyes widened as she saw what had just happened.

"What can I do?" Phoebe questioned, feeling left out. Leo bent down to her eye level once more and placed a hand gently on her shoulder. As soon as she felt his hand touch her, she was pulled into a premonition. She saw Grams running on the stairs and the creature that had attack her father running after her. As soon as the vision came, it disappeared and she clutched Leo, breathless.

"What did you do to her?" Victor demanded.

"I didn't do anything. It was all Phoebe. She just had her first premonition," Leo explained. Phoebe's small frame was shivering in fear. Leo picked her up and held her close.

"Shh. I know it was scary but it's over now," he murmured, stroking her short dark hair.

"Is she ok?" Piper asked.

"She will be," Leo promised. After a few more minutes of ragged breathing, Phoebe was alright and Leo set her down again.

"So what happened to Phoebe?" Prue addressed Leo.

"Well…she can see things that have happened and other things that are going to happen," he explained.

"What did you see, Pheebs?" Prue asked gently.

"The scary thing that attacked Daddy. He was chasing Grams up the stairs," Phoebe answered softly.

"Girls, why don't you give Leo and I a minute to talk," Victor suggested. Without a word or even a disgruntled look, Prue took her siblings towards the stairs. Leo turned to face Victor.

"I don't want this for my girls," Victor sighed, sitting down.

"It's their destiny," Leo countered.

"That's what Patty said," he grumbled.

"You can't fight who they are. This is what they are meant to do," Le explained.

"She also said that," Victor added.

"So, what am I supposed to just let you come in here and take over my job?" he asked harshly.

"No. You're their father. I could never replace you. I'm just here to help them learn the craft, guide them on their path," Leo explained calmly.

"Don't tell me…you're a whitelighter," Victor snickered. Before Leo could say anything, Victor cut him off.

"They're the worst sort of people. They come in and ruin families. You have to be careful around them. You turn your back for just a second and they'll steal your wife," Victor ranted.

"Victor…I am a whitelighter," Leo finally managed to get in.

"Now you're just pulling my leg," Victor said, trying to deny what Leo had said.

"I'm afraid I'm not," Leo responded and disappeared in blue and white orbs just to make a point. When eh reappeared he narrowly avoided a blow to his nose.

"Forget it. They don't need your guidance. I will not have a whitelighter involved in my girls' lives," the father of three howled.

"I understand your mistrust, Victor. Believe I do. But not all whitelighters are alike. I'm not here to steal your daughters away from you. I promise," Leo tried to reason.

Upstairs Prue and her sisters were seated on her bed. None of them had said a word since Prue had shut the door. Piper was staring at her hands and Phoebe was swinging her legs over the edge of the bed.

"So what you think they're talking about?" Piper finally asked, breaking the silence.

"I don't know. Victor didn't seem too happy about…whatever we are," Prue answered.

"You could call him Dad, you know," Piper muttered out of the corner of her mouth.

"So what are we?" Phoebe piped up.

"Freaks," Prue offered. She received a smack on the arm from Piper.

"Leo would know. We can ask him," the middle sister suggested.

"You like him," Prue teased.

"Ew…gross. I do not," Piper denied as Prue got up and opened the door. Piper and Phoebe quickly followed after her, not wanting to miss any of the action. Victor was glaring at Leo when the girls reappeared.

"Leo, what are we?" Piper blurted. Prue snickered behind her hand.

"What do you mean?" the whitelighter asked, a little confused.

"Well…you said we have…powers. Does everybody have powers?" she rephrased her question.

"You're witches, good ones," he explained.

"Do we have to wear silly hats?" Prue asked.

"No. You don't have to wear silly hats or fly on broomsticks," Leo assured her. She seemed to heave a sigh of relief.

"Is Daddy a witch too?" Phoebe asked. Victor tensed at the question. This was going to be a sore subject for a while he could tell.

"No, sweetie. I'm not. But your mother and grandmother were," he answered, sounding subdued. Phoebe looked at her father for a moment before running over and giving him a hug around the middle. He smiled down at her and gave her a pat on the head.

"So…that's why Leo is here. He's going to help you with all of this….witch stuff," Victor explained. He still didn't like the idea of his girls in the presence of a whitelighter. He couldn't get what ha happened between he and Patty out of his head.

"So if Mom and Grams were…witches too…what did they do? Did they know we were too?" Prue asked.

"You can explain this to them, I need some aspirin," Victor muttered and headed for the kitchen. The three girls all turned too look at Leo. He indicated that they should all sit down on the couch.

"Your Mom and your Grams knew that you were witches, yes," he began.

"And they knew that you would be very good at it," he continued.

"Even though they aren't here to see us," Prue muttered.

"They're still with you, Prue. Even though they're not alive anymore physically doesn't mean they don't live on inside you," Leo asserted.

"So what was that thing…what did it want?" Piper asked.

"Well…it's a demon," Leo explained, trying to state it in such a way as not scare the girls.

"Of course it is," Prue murmured under her breath.

"Does it want to hurt us?" Phoebe questioned nervously.

"It might. You girls are going to be very powerful someday and there will be demons that will try to hurt you. But right now, I'm here to protect you. All you have to do is call out my name and I will be there, ok?" he assured them. The trio nodded.

"So how about we go upstairs. There's something that I want to show you," he said and headed for the stairs.

"Upstairs…like the attic?" Piper called after him and he nodded.

"But…Grams doesn't let us go up there. The door is locked," she remarked.

"It's ok. I'll be up there with you," Leo promised and when they reached the top of the stairs on the third floor he pushed the door open as if it was open all the time. The walked in and he pulled out a trunk from beneath a shelf. He unlatched the lock and pulled out a very thick, very dusty book.

"What is it?" Prue asked, leaning over his shoulder.

"This is where your Mom and your Grams wrote down everything about magic. And about your family," he explained, blowing the dust off the worn leather cover. The triquetra adorning the cover was now visible. He sat down and girls crowded around him as he opened the cover, revealing the ornate cover page.

"Book of Shadows," Prue read aloud.

"Can we look?" Phoebe asked and Leo gave her a smile.

"Just don't read anything out loud. We don't want to cast any spells yet," he instructed them.

"Leo," Prue asked suddenly.

"Yes?" he responded.

"What exactly is it that Piper and I do?" she finished her question.

"Well…you can move things with your mind. It's call telekinesis. And Piper…you have the power to freeze time. There a big name for it but its much easier to call it freezing," Leo answered.

"Cool," Piper squealed. Prue tapped her chin for a moment and looked at the book. She willed the pages to move and as if on command a page or two flipped.

"I did it!" she exclaimed, just as Victor walked in.

"What did you do, Prue?" he asked, sounding uneasy.

"I used my power again. I turned the page," she answered, not caring that excitement was shining through. Leo looked over at Victor and gave a reassuring look.


	7. Not Quite Daddy

_Not Quite Daddy_

The afternoon passed by slowly. The girls were still up in the attic, flipping through the book with Leo. Victor had just brought down the lunch dishes and had begun to wash them in the sink. He was still reeling from the fact that his girls were going to have to face demons. He had seen a few when he and Patty were still together and that bothered him, especially for Phoebe. She was too young for all of this. Just as he dried the last dish footsteps echoed on the floor. He turned around to see Piper coming into the kitchen.

"Hey sweetheart," he greeted, putting the dish back in the cabinet.

"Hi Dad," the eight year old replied.

"Is everything ok?" he asked, putting the dish rag back under the sink.

"Yeah. I just came down because Prue was making fun of me," Piper explained.

"What was she saying?" he questioned. He ushered her over to the table.

"She said that I like Leo," the eight-year-old said, sounding disgusted. Victor couldn't help but laugh just a little.

"Well…that doesn't seem like a big deal," Victor murmured.

"But Dad…it's gross. Leo is a boy. Boys are gross," Piper shot back.

"I'm glad you feel that way, sweetie. You're too young to be interested in boys," Victor sighed, ruffling her hair. Just then Phoebe came running into the room.

"Piper…come on. Leo said we can say a spell," the five-year-old squealed excitedly.

"Only if Prue says she sorry," Piper said firmly. Phoebe let out a five-year-old huff and rand back up the stairs. She returned to the attic to find Leo putting together a pedestal.

"Prue, Piper said she won't come up. You have to say you're sorry first," the youngest of the sisters said, trying to catch her breath. The ten-year-old rolled her eyes but headed downstairs to apologize to her sister. She found her with Victor in the kitchen.

"I'm sorry Piper. I was only joking," Prue apologized, giving Piper a hug.

"Ok," her younger sister said, accepting the apology.

"So what exactly are you girls doing?" Victor queried, following his two older daughters up the stairs.

"Nothing. Its not for normal people," Prue answered, letting Piper go into the attic before. She followed and closed the door behind her. Just as Victor was about open the door, Prue squinted her eyes and the lock clicked. She turned to face a stern looking Leo.

"Prue. You can let him in. He can be here," Leo said sternly.

"But I don't want to. He can't do magic," Prue explained, her argument making logical sense in her head. Leo waved his hand at the door and the door unlocked. Victor walked in, looking pissed off.

"Just because he can't do magic, Prue, doesn't mean he shouldn't be here. He's still your father," Leo chided. Leo waved his hand at the door and the door unlocked. Victor walked in, looking pissed off.

"What exactly are you helping them do?" he addressed Leo.

"Just a simple spell. It should help you around the house just in case a demon attack and leaves a mess," Leo answered.

"Can we do it now?" Phoebe asked, jumping up and down in anticipation. Leo smiled at her and turned the book towards them on the pedestal. Piper grabbed an empty crate so Phoebe could stand on it to see the spell.

"Don't you need something to fix?" Victor inquired.

Leo picked up a couple of wooden blocks and other trinkets. He tossed them up in the and Piper froze a couple of them. The rest fell to the floor, breaking. They'd been practicing this part for a while. Prue sent the frozen objects to the ground, breaking them as well.

"Ok girls. Now you have to read the spell together," Leo instructed. Prue took Piper's hand in hers and Piper took Phoebe's.

"Let the object of objection become but a dream as I cause the seen the be unseen," the three of them read in a stagger unison. The blocks disappeared, reappearing on the shelf where Leo had gotten them. The broken trinkets were whole and back in their place as well.

"Daddy we did a spell!" Phoebe exclaimed, leaping off the crate and running over to him.

"I saw," Victor said, trying to sound enthusiastic.

"Dad, can Leo stay for dinner?" Piper asked as Prue shut the Book of Shadows.

"You like him," Prue taunted.

"I do not!" her younger sister protested.

"Girls, that's' enough," Victor scolded.

"Thank you for the offer, Piper. But I have to go soon. I have other people I have to help," Leo explained. Piper looked crestfallen. He bent down to her eye level and gave her a squeeze on the shoulder.

"But don't worry. Remember, you just have to call out my name and I'll be here," he told them all.

With that he disappeared in blue and white lighters again. Victor led his daughters downstairs. The three of them plopped down on the couch and turned on the television. Victor headed into the living room and pulled out some papers for work. He needed to get some work done regardless of whether his daughters were witches or not.

Down in the underworld Ravus and Janice were growing restless. They hadn't counted on Victor surviving. His survival ruined everything. They needed him out of the way to get to the girls and more importantly to the Nexus and its great power. With the power of the Nexus, they would be unstoppable, even to the Source himself.

"I don't understand how he could have survived," Janice ground out.

"Well you didn't count on their whitelighter showing up, did you," Ravus hissed.

"How was I supposed to know they even had a whitelighter. They just received their powers," Janice ranted.

"They are the Charmed Ones. The Elders would be watching them carefully. The first sin of any magic out of them and they'd send a damn arsenal of good magic to protect them," Ravus growled.

"Well then what do you propose we do?" she snapped at him.

"We can turn one of them. They are young and they still have the forty-eight hour window. If we turn one of them, they all turn. With them on our side, we will control the Nexus for sure," he answered.

"We can't get close enough to them. The father will suspect us now. And their whitelighter will sense us," Janice retorted.

"We could employ a darklighter to wound the whitelighter. And then go in and hold them hostage and take the Nexus," she suggested.

"That could work," Ravus agreed. They would wait until the next day. They needed to find a willing darklighter.

Night had fallen in San Francisco. Victor had just tucked Phoebe into bed. Piper was in the bathroom brushing her teeth and Prue was in her room changing into her pajamas.

"Daddy?" Phoebe called, just as Victor was about to leave the room.

"Yeah kiddo?" he replied.

"Do we have to go to school tomorrow?" she asked, her chin holding the covers in place.

"Yes. It's a school day tomorrow," he answered, blowing her a kiss. He passed Piper in the hallway.

"Have a good sleep honey. School in the morning," he told her, giving her a hug as he passed her.

"Night, Dad," she called and closed the door to her and Phoebe's room.

Victor stopped short at Prue's door. This was going to be awkward. He knocked and waited for her to open the door. She pulled it open and looked at him.

"Have a good night. School in the morning," he told her. She nodded and walked by him to go brush her teeth. He headed back downstairs to get some more work done and relax. Raising three girls on his own was a lot harder than it looked. He had to give Penny credit for keeping them safe the last two years. He wished he had Patty by his side in all of this. She could at least help them with the witch thing. It didn't seem fair that they had to depend on Leo when he couldn't be there all the time.

Back upstairs, Prue was just shutting her door and climbing into bed. She stared up the ceiling. This day had been one crazy day for sure. Finding out she and her sisters were witches with special powers was still an unsettling concept. Sure they had said a spell and it had worked but what if it didn't always work? And could she really trust that Leo would be there whenever they needed him? How did they know that he wouldn't just skip out on them like Victor had done so many times. She drifted off to sleep and her dreams were filled with something she hadn't seen in two years. It was her mother.

_She was sitting on a grassy hill with her mother. It looked like summer or late spring by the way they were dressed. Patty was pouring them some lemonade. Prue couldn't help but smile. She missed her mother so much._

"_Prue sweetie," Patty called, catching Prue's attention. The ten-year-old took the glass of the sweet drink._

"_You know, not all men are bad," Patty began._

"_Victor was," Prue interjected immediately._

"_But Leo isn't. He wants to help you," her mother assured her._

"_How do you know Leo?" Prue questioned._

"_I asked him to watch of you and your sisters," Patty answered, sipping her lemonade, the ice cubes clinking against the glass._

"_But how do you know he won't be like Victor?" she begged to know._

"_They're both going to be there when you need them," Patty promised._

Suddenly the dream started to fade. Prue 's lips spread slightly into a smile. It was so nice to see her mother again. Little did she know that in the next room Phoebe was having a less pleasant dream.

_Phoebe was seeing Grams in the kitchen cooking something that was bubbling a lot. Phoebe was trying to climb up on the counter to look into the pot. She managed to get up onto the counter just in time to be pulled into a premonition._

_She saw Grams facing the demon from before. Suddenly she went flying over the foyer table and landed on the ground. It looked painful. The demon was advancing on Grams but she sent him flying._

Phoebe sat up straight in bed. Cold sweat was rolling down her neck and her face. She looked around, expecting to see the demon trying to get her. She was scared. She didn't know which part was a premonition or even if it was a premonition. She looked over to see Piper sound asleep. The five-year-old opened her mouth.

"Leo," she called out softly but nothing happened. Her brow furrowed and she tried louder this time.

"Leo!" she called as loudly as she could. Piper woke up at the shouting of her baby sister. She had called out loud enough to attract Victor. He had been on his way to bed. The room was lit up with blue and white orbs and Leo appear. By now Phoebe was whimpering. She climbed out of bed and climbed into his arms just as Victor opened the door.

"What's going on?" Victor demanded, seeing his youngest child curled up in Leo's arms.

"She called for me," Leo answered. It was the truth. He couldn't help that it was his name Phoebe called out instead of Victor.

"What's all the shouting about?" Prue asked, appearing too.

"I…had a bad dream," Phoebe announced, her voice was very small. She was still expecting the demon to show up.

"What happened?" Leo asked, setting her the edge of her bed.

"I was in the kitchen with Grams. She was making something. I was climbing onto the counter," she tried to remember before it all drifted out of her consciousness.

"Then what?" the whitelighter prompted.

"Then I saw the demon and Grams. He made her fly over the table and then she made go into the wall. Then I woke up," Phoebe answered. Leo rubbed her back gently to calm her down.

"It sounds like Phoebe had another premonition," Leo announced to the other three people in the room.

"She can have them when she's sleeping?" Victor asked and Leo nodded.

"So is this going to be a nightly occurrence?" he wanted ot know.

"I don't know. Premonitions are often times unpredictable. Phoebe is young and she is still very new to the craft. It is going to take her a while for her to be able to call a promotion," Leo explained. Victor looked angry his hands balled into fists.

"Phoebe, honey. If you have any more bad dreams. I want you to come to me first," he told the five-year-old. She nodded meekly and climbed back into bed. Leo told her goodnight and disappeared in blue and white. Prue watched him go and her mother's words rang in her ears. _They're both going to be there when you need them_


	8. Monday Mornings

_Monday Mornings_

The following morning came too early for the Halliwell girls. Their alarms went off around 7:45. Prue hit the snooze button and rolled over. She pulled the blankets over her head to block out the sunlight streaming through the curtains. In the next room, Piper was sitting on the edge of her bed, sliding her feet into her slippers. She looked over at Phoebe. She was still sound asleep. Piper couldn't blame her. The eight-year-old could only imagine what it was like to have premonitions. As quietly as she could she opened the door and padded down the hallway and into the bathroom. Fifteen minutes later Piper was searching through her drawer in search of clothes. She glanced at the clock and realized that she needed to get Phoebe up.

"Phoebe, time to get up," she called to her baby sister, shaking her by the shoulder. The five-year-old groaned and tried to roll over.

"Phoebe, come on. We have to go to school," Piper reminded, turning on the light.

"I don't want to go," Phoebe whined.

"Dad said we had to go to school," Piper chided. With a loud sigh, the five-year-old crawled out of bed and headed towards the stairs. Piper finally found something to wear and followed her sister downstairs. Victor was nowhere in sight but Piper managed to get Phoebe and herself bowls of cereal and juice. By the time 8:30 rolled around Piper had gotten Phoebe dressed and was about to knock on Prue's door. Just as the eight-year-old was about to knock, the door was pulled open and Prue walked out.

"Morning," Piper greeted.

"I hate school," Prue grumbled as she shut the bathroom door. All of the noise brought Victor out of his room.

"What's going on out here?" he asked.

"Nothing. The bus will be here soon," Piper answered as Phoebe emerged from their room with her backpack.

"Oh…oh why didn't you tell me? Did you girls eat?" he questioned, feeling embarrassed.

"Yes. But Prue just got up," Phoebe answered, struggling to pull the second strap of her backpack onto her shoulder.

"Ok. What time does the bus come?" he wanted to know just as Prue came out of the bathroom.

"At 8:45," Piper answered. He looked at his watch and saw that it was 8:35. He looked at Prue.

"You need to eat before you catch the bus," he told her. She merely shrugged and grabbed her backpack.

"Prue, I'd like a verbal response when I talk to you," he called after her. She stopped on the stairs, turned around and glared at him.

"Fine. I'll grab toast," the ten-year-old said through gritted teeth. She turned and stormed down the rest of the stairs. Victor ran a hand through his hair.

"Why don't you girls go wait for your sister downstairs," he instructed the two younger girls. Piper nodded and she and Phoebe joined Prue in the kitchen. Prue looked at her siblings as she waited for the toast to pop up.

"Remember, Leo said we can't tell anybody about magic," she reminded her sisters as she pulled the toast from the toaster and spread butter and jelly on it.

"Why not?" Phoebe questioned.

"I don't know. He just said we can't," Prue answered, taking a bite of her toast.

Shortly there was a honk outside and the girls headed down the front steps and onto the bus. Victor watched them go from the upstairs window. He hoped that nothing supernatural happened today. Prue sat down in one of the seats and Piper and Phoebe across from her. The bus began to move away from Prescott Street and picked up several more elementary school aged kids. A boy around Piper's age sat behind Phoebe and Piper. His messy brown hair was falling in his eyes which were fixed on Phoebe. Thinking no one was looking; he reached around the edge of the seat and pinched the five-year-old's arm.

"Ow!" she squealed, jumping in her seat. Prue turned and faced the boy instantly.

"What did you do?" she demanded, moving to the edge of her seat.

"I didn't do anything," he answered.

"He pinched me," Phoebe murmured, rubbing her sore arm.

"Don't ever touch my sister again you little brat," Prue hissed at him.

"I'm not scared of you," the boy shot back.

"You should be," she countered, narrowing her eyes. Piper saw what her sister was about to do and grabbed her by the arm.

"Prue, don't. He's not worth it," Piper told her sister as firmly as she could.

"You ok, Pheebs?" Prue questioned. The youngest Halliwell nodded. The boy scooted to the inner edge of the seat where he was soon joined by another boy his age. The rest of the bus ride was uneventful for the Halliwells. Prue waited for the two boys to get down the stairs before she squinted her eyes and tripped one. Both of them toppled over.

"Prue," Piper gasped as softly as she could.

"Maybe he should watch where he was going," Prue answered, giving her sister a 'don't say anything' look. She ushered her siblings into the building and dropped Phoebe off at the kindergarten room.

"Bye, Phoebe," Piper said, giving her sister a hug before heading to her own class. Phoebe looked around at her classmates. She hoped she wouldn't get any premonitions while she was at school. She wouldn't be able to call for Leo or go to her sisters, especially because the third and fifth graders didn't have recess at the same time as she did.

Prue headed for her classroom, hands wrapped around the straps of her backpack. She had just reached the door when she heard someone calling her name. She turned around to see the vice principal.

"Prudence," she said. Prue winced slightly. She was in trouble.

"I need you to come with me," the vice principal instructed. She caught Prue's teacher's eye and nodded. She led the ten-year-old down several hallways and to her office. The boy from the bus was sitting in her office.

"Please sit down," the vice principal told Prue. The ten-year-old slumped into the chair.

"Justin here says you tripped him," she informed Prue.

"I didn't trip him. I didn't touch him," Prue protested.

"She threatened me on the bus," Justin interjected.

"I did not! You hit my sister," Prue accused.

"She's a baby," Justin shot back.

"Yeah well you're a jerk who picks on little kids," Prue ground out.

"That's enough. I don't know what is going on here but both of you are going to stay after school for a half hour for detention," the vice principal said firmly. Both students groaned but got up and headed back to their respective classes. Prue slumped into her seat and picked up with the lesson her teacher had started. She couldn't believe that little snot had gotten her in trouble. Victor was going to kill her.

The rest of the morning seemed to pass uneventfully for the Halliwell girls. Piper had almost tried to freeze the snack of the girl sitting next to her as it fell to the floor but she didn't want to disobey Leo. Just as the teacher h ad finished cleaning up the mess; the girl leaned over and stared at Piper's notebook.

"Who's Leo?" Cassie asked, noting the little hearts drawn around the name.

"Nobody," Piper answered covering up the notebook.

"Yeah, sure. You like a boy," Cassie whispered.

"I do not," Piper denied.

"Then who is he?" Cassie probed.

"Nobody," the middle child answered again and got up, lining up for recess.

Five minutes later Piper's class was released outside and onto the playground. The eight-year-old spotted her older sister sitting on a swing by herself. Prue never really did like recess. Piper joined her sibling on the unoccupied swing to her right.

"You look mad," Piper commented, kicking off from the ground, dust flying up.

"I have detention," Prue muttered darkly.

"Why?" Piper asked, sounding shocked. Prue never got in trouble at school.

"That stupid kid who pinched Phoebe on the bus. He said I pushed him. So we both got detention. You'll have to make sure Phoebe gets on the bus," Prue answered.

"But Prue…what about Dad? Won't he be mad?" Piper asked after a moment of silence.

"I don't care. It's not my fault. And I didn't even use magic on him," the eldest grumbled.

"So how will you get home?" the eight-year-old queried, gaining some altitude as her small legs pumped back and forth.

"I'll walk," the ten-year-old answered.

"You can't walk. You're not allowed," Piper reminded her. It had been one of Grams' rules. None of them were allowed to walk home from school alone.

"I'm ten not two, Piper. I can walk home if I want," she retorted. She was about to add that Grams wasn't around to enforce the rule anymore but she didn't. She knew how close to Grams Piper was.

"You could ask Leo to take you home," Piper suggested.

"I'm walking home. Don't say anything to Victor," Prue answered with a note of finality in her voice. She leapt off the swing and headed back inside. Piper watched her sister leave and heaved a sigh. She didn't want to make her sister more upset but she couldn't lie to her father. Realizing that recess was over, she headed inside as well. Little did either she or Prue know but Phoebe was not having the easiest of days back at school either. She was sitting at her desk, practicing her alphabet when a boy reached to steal her pencil. She brushed hands with him and she was pulled into a premonition, inhaling sharply. This time it wasn't about Grams.

_She was looking down from the stairs on the second landing. She saw a figure, a man with his back to her. She couldn't tell who it was but she could see him moving away from her. She heard a voice. She didn't think it was the man's. Suddenly the man was lying on the floor with an arrow sticking out of his back._

"Phoebe," her teacher said softly, bending down next to the five-year-old. Phoebe slowly turned to face the woman. She could feel herself shaking slightly from the images. Miss Peterson laid a comforting hand on Phoebe's shoulder.

"Do you need to go to the nurse?" the young woman questioned.

"No. I'm ok," Phoebe lied. She couldn't tell Miss Peterson about what she had seen. She could get in trouble.

"It's almost snack time. Why don't you get something to drink," the teacher offered. Phoebe nodded and got her lunch box from her backpack. She sipped on her juice box and she felt a little better. She would feel much better if she could talk to her sisters. She only hoped that whatever it was she had seen didn't happen while they were in school.

The afternoon dragged by for both Phoebe and Prue. Phoebe was itching to find her sisters and tell them about the premonition. Prue on the other hand was dreading detention. She'd never been in detention before. She wasn't scared; she didn't get scared that easy. She was just annoyed. The final bell of the day rang and students poured out of all the doorways and into the halls. Phoebe waited inside her classroom for one of her sisters to arrive. Piper maneuvered her way through the throngs of students and finally reached the kindergarten room. Phoebe pulled her backpack on and walked towards her sister.

"Ready to go?" Piper asked, extending her hand. Phoebe nodded.

"Where's Prue?" Phoebe replied, looking around but seeing no sign of her oldest sister.

"She has to stay after school for detention," Piper explained as she led her baby sister towards the bus.

"What did she do?" Phoebe pressed. This was unexpected. Prue never had to stay after school.

"It was about that boy pinching you this morning. She'll be ok. Come on, we don't want to miss the bus," Piper replied and pulled her sister through the crowd of people and onto the bus. Fifteen minutes later Piper and Phoebe stepped off the bus. The eight-year-old had to retrieve the key from under the mailbox. She didn't have her own. She let them in and found that Victor was not yet home from work.

Prue walked slowly towards the room marked with the large 'Detention' sign. She pushed it open and took a seat in the back. She pulled out her math homework and began to work on it. She figured she could at least use the time to get homework done. A few other students, including Justin, wandered and took seats. The gym coach walked in and closed the door.

"This is silent detention. Do your work," he informed them, sitting down at the desk at the front of the room. Prue kept her eyes on her math book and after what felt like an eternity, they were allowed to leave. Prue hurriedly packed up her books and headed for the front door of the school. She was halfway home when she felt a strange feeling wash over her; the small hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end. She was about to turn around when she felt a hand cover her mouth with a cloth. She inhaled the chloroform and blacked out. Her assailant, after looking around to make sure no one saw them, disappeared.


	9. Crossing Over

_Crossing Over _

Prue groaned. Her head was pounding and her eyes felt like they were swollen shut. She tried to move her arms but found they were tied together behind her back. With all the strength she could muster she managed to open her eyes. Wherever she was it was damp and dark.

"Hello?" she called out. Her voice was raspy and it didn't sound like her at all.

She heard muffled noises coming from her left. She turned her head but that hurt too much. Footsteps echoed and soon she could tell she was not alone anymore.

"She's awake," a male sounding voice stated.

"Where am I?" Prue demanded, lifting her head as best she could. Her eyes were still adjusting to the darkness but she could make out two figures.

"Safe," a female voice answered. It sounded familiar somehow.

"That's not a good answer," the ten-year-old grumbled. One of the figures snickered softly and ignited a fireball in its palm. The light suddenly lit up the room. Prue's pupils contracted from the light but they seemed to adjust faster to the light. She could make out the two figures in grotesque details. The blue demon looked horribly familiar.

"You're in the Underworld, Prue," the red-skinned demon answered. Prue could feel her heart starting to beat faster.

"Let me go," she protested, wiggling in her restraints.

"I'm afraid we can't do that," the male demon sighed, bouncing the fireball in his hand.

"You can't do this!" she shouted and managed to send Ravus back a few paces.

"I thought you said her power came from her hands," he hissed at Janice.

"I assumed it did," Janice snapped back at him. Prue used the arguing to her advantage. She twisted her hands around, trying to undo the rope that bound her wrists. She got one knot undone when Ravus turned to face her. He through the fireball right above her head; causing her to press her body close to the floor to avoid being hit.

"You're going t cooperate, witch," he spat. Prue backed up until her back was to the cave wall.

"No. Leave me alone," she countered.

"You don't have to scare her," Janice simpered. This was going to require a woman's touch. How typical.

"We don't want to hurt you, Prue. We just want your help," she began and untied Prue's hands.

"But…he tried to kill Victor," Prue stammered.

"You don't like him much, do you?" Janice asked.

"Not when he tells me what to do," Prue admitted.

"So why don't you show him that you don't like it. Use your magic on him," she suggested.

"I can't," Prue answered shortly.

"Why not? It's your magic, isn't it?" the demon probed.

"I guess…but Leo said we can't use it for bad stuff…to hurt people," she explained.

"Well Leo's not here right now. And I think there is someone that you want to get even with," Janice whispered. Prue shook her head. She didn't want to be here.

"Leo!" she shouted.

"Leo can't hear you down here," Ravus sniggered.

Back at the Manor Piper was fixing a snack for Phoebe in the kitchen. Phoebe had taken a seat on the couch and was flipping through channels. Piper walked in with a bowl of trail mix and juice and set it on the table.

"Phoebe!" she groaned and snatched the remote from the five-year-old's hand.

"That's not fair. Give it back," Phoebe protested.

"You aren't supposed to watch TV until all your homework is done," Piper reminded her baby sister in a motherly tone.

"I don't got homework today," Phoebe answered and crossed her arms over her chest, sticking out her tongue.

"Give me your backpack," the eight-year-old ordered. Phoebe pouted but handed it over. Piper rooted through the bag and found a couple of unfinished papers.

"Here, do this first and then you can watch," the older of the two stated.

"Miss Peterson said we didn't have to finish those," the five-year-old insisted.

"Just do it," Piper said, shoving the paper at her sister and handing her a pencil.

"Meanie," Phoebe shot but continued practicing her alphabet.

Piper just rolled her eyes and pulled out her own homework. Might as well get it done now. Half an hour later Piper looked over at Phoebe who had finished the two worksheets and was once more watching television. She looked at the clock and did her best to read the hands. She knew that Prue should have been home by now. To occupy herself she took the empty bowl and cups back into the kitchen and put them in the sink. She was just about to turn around when she heard the front door open.

"Prue?" she called out, rushing towards the door. To her disappoint it was only Victor.

"Hi, sweetie," he greeted.

"I thought you might have been Prue," Piper muttered.

"Why?" Victor asked, hanging his coat up on the wall.

"I don't know," Piper lied. She didn't like having to lie to her father. In the next room Phoebe was breathing hard. Victor noticed how labored his youngest daughter's breathing was and took the few steps to sit next to her.

"Phoebe?" he called but she didn't respond. Her eyes were wide. She was having yet another premonition. This one was of Grams.

_Penny was turning to face the demon and he gave her an evil grin and stuck his hand into her chest. Phoebe watched the color drain from her grandmother's face. She could feel her Grams' heart stop beating as if it were her own. _

Phoebe clutched her chest, making sure her heart was still beating and that she was still alive. She couldn't hold back the tears. Victor cradled her to him and whispered comforting words in her ear.

"Grams," Phoebe sobbed.

"I know you miss her," Victor murmured.

"No…the demon…he killed her," Phoebe stated through a loud sniffle.

"What?" Victor gasped. That couldn't be right. She'd died of a heart attack. She had a heart condition.

"What did you see, Pheebs?" Piper asked. She had a feeling was going to ask that question a lot in the future.

"The demon put his hand inside Grams' chest and then he made her heart stop," Phoebe answered her voice soft. It was then that Victor noticed that Prue was nowhere to be seen. He would have thought she would have come running.

"Piper, where is Prue?" he asked sternly. Piper couldn't meet his gaze. She fidgeted with the hem of her shirt.

"Piper," he stated.

"She got in trouble at school. But it wasn't her fault. A boy hit Phoebe on the bus. She had to do detention. She was walking home," Piper answered.

"She should have called me and I would have picked her up. She shouldn't be walking home," Victor railed.

"I told her not to but she didn't want to listen," Piper offered. Victor stood up and began to pace.

"How long was her detention?" he demanded to know.

"A half hour," Piper supplied.

"She should have been home by now. I swear if something has happened to her…" he trailed, a thought occurring to him.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," he grumbled to himself.

"Leo!" he called out. The living room was filled with blue and white orbs, depositing Leo.

"Victor…is everything ok?" Leo asked, looking a little surprised to be there.

"Prue was walking home from school and we can't find her," Victor said. Leo nodded and closed his eyes, trying to sense her. A worried look washed over his young face.

"I can't sense her…" he trailed off.

"What does that mean?" Victor shouted.

"It means it's not good. The girls are vulnerable until midnight tonight. There was a forty-eight hour window agreed upon eons ago between good an evil where a witch could be swayed to either side," the whitelighter explained.

"So you're telling me…some…demon could have my daughter?" Victor asked.

"Yes, that is what I'm saying. And if whoever has her convinces her to use her powers to harm an innocent…then there's nothing we can do," Leo said sadly.

"Nothing we can do? That doesn't fly for me, pal. If it's your job to guide them and protect them, then find her and protect her," Victor ground out and stormed into the kitchen.

"Is Prue going to be ok?" Phoebe asked.

"I don't know," Leo answered. It broke his heart that he couldn't tell her that her big sister would be alright.

Back in the Underworld Prue was trying to ignore Janice. She had her hands over he ears and her eyes squeezed shut. She didn't want to be here, and she didn't want to help them.

"Prue…you know you want to get back at that boy who hurt Phoebe," Janice prodded.

"He's just a stupid third grader. He had to do detention too," Prue answered.

"But it's not fair. You didn't do anything wrong. He was the one who hurt your sister," Janice goaded.

Suddenly there was a shimmer and Ravus appeared, holding a very frightened Justin by the nape of his neck. Prue's eyes widened. This was very wrong. He shouldn't be here. Leo had told them not to tell anyone about magic.

"W-where am I?" Justin babbled.

"Where bad boys go," Ravus whispered, shoving him towards Prue.

"Go on, Prue. Teach him the lesson you really wanted to teach him for picking on Phoebe," Janice hissed in Prue's ear. Prue stared at the eight-year-old boy before. She did want to trip him…or hit him even. She looked over her shoulder at Janice who nodded her head. Prue squinted her eyes and Justin stumbled back a few inches.

"How…how'd you do that?" he gasped.

"Come on, Prue. You can do better than that. He hurt your sister. He had no right to do that," Janice taunted. Prue figured she did have a point. Even though it was just a pinch, he had meant to hurt her. No one hurt her sisters.

"No one hurts my sisters," Prue shot and sent Justin flying into a wall, knocking him out cold, a small trickle of blood slithering down from his nose. Suddenly Prue glowed with a black aura.

"I feel funny," Prue muttered, turning to face Ravus and Janice.

"It will pass in a few minutes, I promise," Janice said, laying a hand on Prue's shoulder. Prue smiled up at her. Janice sent Ravus a smirk. They had succeeded. They had turned the Charmed Ones. Even the Source couldn't deny them that.

"Is he dead?" Prue asked, glancing over at Justin.

"No," Ravus answered.

"Good," Prue sighed. She didn't like thee kid but she didn't want him dead.

"Stay here. We have to go take care of something. We'll be right over here," Janice informed the ten-year-old. Prue nodded and sat down on a flat rock, her elbows propped on her knees. In the adjoining cave Ravus and Janice were whispering in low tones.

"Did you get the darklighter?" Janice asked.

"I believe I have one who we can trust to get the job done. And with the Charmed Ones on our side now, they won't be worrying about their injured whitelighter," Ravus replied with a smirk.

"Good. Once we send Prue back to the Manor, we'll send the darklighter after the whitelighter. The father will have figured out she's missing by now and will have called him to help," Janice explained.

"Prue," Janice called, entering the cave. Prue looked up.

"Aren't you worried?" the demon asked.

"Worried about what?" the girl questioned.

"Well...Victor of course. I mean…he's all alone in the Manor with your sisters. You're not there to protect them from him," the demon answered.

"He likes Piper and Phoebe…especially Phoebe. Why would he hurt them?" Prue inquired.

"Well…he is only nice to them when you're around. He's a mortal…and he doesn't like magic. He wants to make your sisters stop using their magic. We can't let that happen, now can we?" Janice fabricated.

"No…I'll….I'll kill him," Prue shouted and stood up.

"I hope so," Janice muttered under her breath.

"Now…all you have to do is think of where you want to go, and you'll be there," she instructed the ten-year-old.

Prue closed her eyes, focusing on the Manor. In the blink of an eye she was out of the Underworld and standing in the front hall of the Manor. She opened her eyes to see her father, sisters and Leo staring at her.


	10. Seeing is Believing

_Seeing is Believing_

Victor started to walk towards his oldest daughter. She just glared at him but said nothing. Instead she turned her gaze to her sisters. She could see the faint black aura about them. They hadn't said anything about her sisters glowing.

"Prue, you should have called me to pick you up from school," Victor said, stopping a foot or so away from Prue.

"You hurt them," Prue accused him, squinting her eyes at him. He stumbled back a few feet, looking shocked.

"What are you talking about, Prue? I didn't hurt anyone," Victor replied, trying to catch his balance.

"Yes you did. You left us. You hurt my sisters. You won't hurt them anymore," Prue spat, concentrating, sending him flying back into the wall.

"Prue…stop," Leo begged, putting himself in the way of Prue's line of fire.

"No. They said he was hurting them. He can't hurt them anymore. He can't hurt them if he's dead," the ten-year-old retorted and tried to push past the whitelighter. Leo grabbed her and held her firmly by the wrists.

"Who told you that?" Leo wanted to know.

"I don't have to tell you that," Prue answered, struggling against his grip.

"Were they demons?" he demanded.

"No…I don't know. Let me go!" she protested. Just then Piper took a step towards her older sister.

"Let her go," she said, raising her hands.

"Piper…" Leo trailed off. This was a disaster. He couldn't even keep his charges safe for forty eight lousy hours to make sure they traveled the right path. Reluctantly he released Prue's wrists. Phoebe just looked on as her sisters looked at Leo. She was scared. She had no idea what was happening. She looked over at Victor as he lie motionless on the ground.

"Prue," Phoebe rasped.

"What?" Prue asked, her voice gentle.

"Is…is Daddy dead?" the five-year-old whimpered.

"I hope so," Prue answered. Phoebe's entire body began to quiver. Her Daddy couldn't be dead too. It wasn't fair. She bolted as fast as her small legs could carry her up the stairs to the first landing. She turned down the hall and tossed herself onto her bed. This wasn't right. She couldn't tell why but she just knew something was very wrong. Prue watched her baby sister run up the stairs. She had a momentary lapse of anger at her father. Hurting him had made Phoebe upset. It was probably because he hurt her first.

"Prue…why are you trying to hurt Dad?" Piper asked, hands now down at her sides.

"Because he hurt you and Phoebe. And no one hurts you," Prue answered just as Victor started to wake up. He sat up and rubbed the knot that was forming at the base of his skull. He caught Prue's eye. There was a glint in her glare that made him very nervous. This was not his little girl anymore. This was someone hell bent on causing pain.

"Prue I swear I didn't mean to hurt you. Your grandmother made me leave," Victor begged.

"You're a liar," Prue shouted and sent him tumbling against a chair in the next room. Leo looked at Piper and tried to convince her that she didn't want to hurt him or Victor.

"Piper, what Prue is doing…isn't right. You should never use your powers to hurt people," he said, bending down to her eye level.

"Why not? What if someone hurts you, like Prue said?" Piper asked.

"Well what would you do if you didn't have powers?" Leo asked, hoping he was getting through to her. As long as he could keep her and Phoebe from using their powers to hurt innocents, then maybe there was a chance he could save them. She thought for a moment.

"Tell a grown up," Piper answered.

"Ok…well you can still do that even though you have powers. Your Mom and Grams wouldn't be very happy if you hurt people. That's not who they raised you to be," he told her.

In the next room Prue was advancing on Victor, knocking him into various pieces of furniture. He was breathing hard and presently had his hands out in front him..

"Prue…please stop," he begged, out of breath.

Down in the Underworld, Ravus and Janice were pacing, waiting anxiously for the darklighter to show up. Janice had stopped pacing and was starting to grow irritated.

"I thought you said we had the damn darklighter," she snapped.

"We do…he's just…" Ravus started to answer when black orbs filled the cavern, depositing a darklighter, crossbow and quiver of arrows at the ready.

"Finally. You're lucky we're going to let you live," Janice hissed.

"Don't get your demonic panties in a bunch. I showed up. So where's the whitelighter?" he shot back.

"Halliwell Manor. He should be an easy target. His charges are distracted. They won't be worrying about saving their whitelighter, even if they knew how to," Ravus answered.

"Didn't the old witch die?" the darklighter muttered.

"Just go before I decide to let my temper get the best of me," Janice ordered. With a nod the darklighter disappeared. He reappeared in the middle of the living room. He surveyed the action in progress. Prue was continuing to throw Victor into all manner of furniture. He was bleeding in several places now. In the hallway, Leo was still conversing hastily with Piper. He looked up just in time to see the darklighter flash him an evil smile.

"No," Leo gasped just as the arrow went flying through the air. Piper watched as the object hurtled towards Leo but she didn't stop it. She didn't know how. Before she knew it, the arrow had hit Leo in the stomach and he had collapsed to the ground. The darklighter looked surprised but black orbed out of the Manor. That had been too easy.

Piper knelt down by Leo's side. He was bleeding profusely around the arrow. She didn't know what to do. She was fighting back tears and she couldn't look at him.

"Piper….it's ok," Leo gasped, trying to reassure her.

"No it's not. I'm eight not five," she sniffled back.

"You can help me, Piper. I know you can," Leo whispered, giving her small hand a squeeze. The touch gave her an idea. She concentrated and with all her might she sent her hands out, freezing Leo. Pain was clearly etched on his face.

Just as Leo had stopped moving, Prue walked away from Victor. He had several deep gashes on his arms and his was breathing in very shallow breaths. She took Piper by the hand and started to lead her upstairs.

"Prue what are we doing?" Piper asked, trying to dry her eyes.

"We need to find a spell. To get rid of him. So he can't hurt us ever again," Prue answered. Just as she finished her sentence, Piper got a slight shock and pulled her hand away from her sister.

"Go upstairs. I'm getting Phoebe," Prue ordered. Reluctantly Piper headed for the attic while Prue retrieved Phoebe. The five-year-old had stopped crying and had fallen asleep.

"What happened?" Phoebe asked, uncurling herself and sitting up.

"We have to find a spell," Prue said, dragging her baby sister out of the room.

"For what?" Phoebe wanted to know.

"To get rid of Victor," Prue answered and pushed open the attic door. She found Piper staring at the Book of Shadows. Fear was plastered on the eight-year-old's face. Prue tapped Piper on the shoulder

"What's wrong?" Prue inquired.

"I…I tried to touch the book but it wouldn't let me," Piper answered, sounding really uneasy.

"That's stupid. It is our book," Prue grumbled and went to retrieve it. But like with Piper, the book glowed and jumped several feet away from her.

"Dumb book," the ten-year-old growled.

Back downstairs, Leo had unfrozen and was in severe pain. Victor had managed to make his way slowly over to where Leo lay.

"What…the hell happened to you?" Victor got out amid a volley of coughs.

"Darklighter…the girls….are in danger," Leo murmured.

"Well it didn't go after the girls. It went after you," Victor retorted. Suddenly Leo grimaced in pain, fighting to keep the scream of agony from coming out.

"The Book…it won't let them touch it…" he ground out.

Before Victor could respond a bright light appeared before them, depositing the ghostly form of Patty once more. She surveyed the two men in front of her. What she wouldn't give to be corporeal at that moment.

"Patty?" Victor asked in disbelief.

"Take it easy Victor. She did a hell of a number on you," Patty commented.

"Patty…I'm so sorry," Leo apologized.

"Shh. Save your strength. Are they up with the Book?" she responded. Leo nodded weakly. Without another word, Patty wisped upstairs. She found her three girls chasing after the Book. Phoebe was the first to spot her.

"Mommy?" Phoebe asked in awe.

"Hello my sweet girls," Patty greeted. She could sense the aura of evil around her children and it nearly broke her heart. It was darkest around Prue. She had expected nothing less.

"Mom…how?" Prue asked, stopping her search for the book. Patty moved towards her oldest daughter. She wanted to hug her baby so much. With all the energy she could muster she forced herself to become solid. Prue's eyes widened slightly and without a second thought, wrapped her arms around her mother's waist.

"I miss you," Prue sniffled.

"I miss you too, Prue," Patty sighed. She had to save her girls. The Charmed Ones couldn't become evil. It was not what they were meant to do.

"Prue you need to listen to me," Patty said, pulling away from her daughter.

"Piper, Phoebe, come here please," she addressed her younger girls. Phoebe and Piper joined their mother.

"What you did tonight. You need to make it right. You have to believe me, girls. Whatever problems your Dad and I had, it was between us. He loves you very much. He just wants to keep you safe," Patty explained, her eyes locked on Prue.

"But…they said he was hurting Piper and Phoebe," Prue tried to explain.

"Baby, those were demons. They were the ones who wanted to hurt you," Patty murmured, stroking her daughter's cheek.

"What did I do?" Prue gasped, suddenly feeling very strange. She felt as if she'd been hit with a ton of bricks but not the full force.

"We can still fix this sweetheart. The boy…Justin. You can save him. You can use your magic for good," Patty said.

"I don't know how to get there," Prue mumbled. Patty bit her lip for a moment. If her children were indeed evil they could simply blink to the Underworld but she couldn't risk them using more dark magic.

"Take my hands," she told the girls. She took their hands and wisped them to the Underworld. They appeared in the cave where Prue had been. Justin was still lying slumped against the wall. Phoebe looked around and clutched her mother's leg.

"It's scary, Mommy. I don't like it," the five-year-old murmured. Prue slowly walked towards Justin. She kneeled down at his side and shook him slightly. His eyes opened and he tried to get away from her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you," Prue apologized.

"I just don't' like people picking on my sisters," she added. She extended her hand and slowly pulled him up. No one had noticed Janice shimmer in.

"What's going on?" she demanded, making the entire group turn around abruptly.

"You lied to me. You tricked me! You made me hurt my dad," Prue shouted at the demon, sending her back a few inches.

"But he was hurting your sisters," Janice tried to lie.

"No he didn't. You just said he was so I would get mad and want to make him pay," Prue answered.

"You're mean," Phoebe shot from behind the protective barrier of her mother's thigh.

"You really think they can vanquish me?" Janice laughed, looking at Patty.

"Girls…I want you to listen very carefully. You remember the spirit board we had in the attic?" she said, turning to shield the girls. All three nodded.

"There was something inscribed on the bottom. Do you remember what it said?" she asked.

"Um…it had three in it," Prue recalled. She was trying to see the inscription in her mind's eye.

"It's useless. They can't vanquish me. They're evil now, Janice taunted.

"Good…what else?" Patty prompted. A light suddenly went off in Piper's head.

"The Power of Three will…something free," she recounted.

"Say it with me. The Power of Three wills et us free," Patty coached. She slid behind her daughters. Prue took her sisters by the hand and together they continued to chant.

"The Power of Three will set us free," the chanted repeatedly. Janice's eyes started to grow large as she felt her limbs and atoms being torn apart in hellfire.

"No!" she shrieked just as she exploded. Just then the girls glowed white. Patty couldn't help but smile.

"Good job my sweet girls. Come on. We need to get back to your Dad and Leo," she said. They gathered Justin with them and were soon back in the Manor. Prue rand as quickly as she could to Victor and unceremoniously flung herself at him.

"I'm sorry I hurt you," she apologized. Victor winced as she landed on a few bruised ribs but patter her on the back.

"It's ok, Prue. It will be ok," he murmured.

Next to him on the floor Leo was lying still. He was very pale and the blood had finally stopped flowing. Piper fell to the ground and tried to wake him up. Her efforts were not rewarded. She looked down at the young man, the tears from earlier spilling over now. Phoebe let go of her mother's hand and wrapped an arm around her big sister. Just then the room was filled with blue and white lights. A blond woman in a white robe appeared and bent down next to Leo. She pulled the arrow out and placed her hands over the wound. It knit back together and soon Leo was sitting up.

"Natalie," Leo remarked, looking at the blond.

"The Elders sent me to heal you. Although I must say you didn't do a very good job. You almost lost your charges," Natalie chided.

"Excuse me but he did everything he could to protect my girls. You have no right to criticize him for that," Patty interjected.

"The Elders are willing to give you another chance," Natalie muttered and disappeared. Just as she disappeared she fixed Leo with a look that clearly said, 'don't screw it up again'.

"Here, Victor let me heal you," Leo offered.

Fifteen minutes later, Leo had used memory dust on Justin and brought him safely home. They were now in the attic and all three girls were fighting over the Book. They all wanted to be sure they could touch it again.

"Girls. Here give it to me," Patty ordered, taking the book and setting it on the pedestal.

"Mommy, do you have to go?" Piper asked, looking up at her mother.

"I'm afraid so, baby. But I'll be with you, like I always have. Just remember, you girls are very special and meant to do special things. Your powers are a gift. Use them well. Listen to Leo," she answered, pulling all three of her girls into a forceful hug.

"But no magic for bad things," all three of them informed their mother in unison.

"Exactly. I'll be watching over you," she said, kissing their cheeks as she stood up. She became transparent again and disappeared in white lights.

"Dad…" Piper said after a long pause.

"Yeah, Piper?" he replied.

"Grams always said we had to have a grown up at home when we get home from school. Will you be home tomorrow when we get home," she explained.

"You get I will," he promised as they headed downstairs for a late dinner. Piper paused at the top of the stairs to look at Leo.

"I have to go. But I will be back. I promise," he said and disappeared in blue and white orbs.


	11. Fear or Make Believe

_Fear or Make Believe_

The following morning dawned much like the one before it. Prue grabbed toast as she rushed out the front door to catch the bus with her sisters. Victor watched them go, hoping nothing would happen to them today. Yesterday had scared the living daylights out of him. On the bus, the three girls had managed to squeeze into one seat.

"Prue?" Phoebe asked, swinging her legs back and forth, trying to kick the seat in front of them.

"What?" her older sister responded, finishing the last of her toast.

"Do you really hate Daddy?" the five-year-old questioned. Prue turned her gaze on her baby sister.

"Cause Piper said you got issues," Phoebe expanded, recalling what her sibling had told her a few days previous.

"Piper doesn't know what she is talking about," Prue snapped, glaring at the eight-year-old.

"Phoebe, let's not talk about it," Piper whispered, sensing Prue was getting angry. They'd all seen what happened when she got angry.

"But…" Phoebe trailed off. She hated being the youngest. Her sisters never wanted to talk about big kid things around her.

The rest of the bus ride to school was uneventful. The girls went their separate ways as if nothing had happened the previous day. Prue sat in her class, staring at the worksheet in front of her. She really hated math. What good was long division anyhow?

"Prue," her teacher called, tapping the ten-year-old on the shoulder.

"Huh?" Prue muttered, looking up at the young woman at her side.

"Could you go up to the board and show the class how to do the problem?" the woman asked. Prue groaned a little but got up and headed for the front of the class. She picked up the piece chalk that lay before her and eyed the problem. How was she supposed to know how many times 40 went into 760? She turned around and looked at her teacher, begging with her eyes for some clue as to what she should be doing.

"What do you do first?" her teacher prompted. Prue cleared her throat, trying to think what she was supposed to do.

"Um….First you figure out how many times forty goes into seventy six?" she offered tentatively. Her teacher nodded approvingly at the girl. Prue stared at the problem before. She knew that forty times two was eighty. But eighty was bigger than seventy six.

"So it goes in one time because two times would be eighty but that's bigger than seventy six," Prue explained, feeling slightly more confident with herself. She wrote a one above the six and then neatly wrote 40 beneath the 76. She hurriedly did the math coming up with 36.

"Good. Now what do we do next?" the teacher prompted. Prue tapped her chin for a moment in thought.

"You have to…bring down the zero," she said and wrote a zero next to the thirty six.

"Now you do the same with three hundred and sixty," she muttered more to herself than the rest of the class. She counted on her fingers trying to remember her multiplication facts. She knew that four times nine was thirty six.

"It goes in 9 times," Prue stated and wrote the 9 above the zero. Upon subtracting she ended up with zero.

"So it goes in nineteen times," the ten-year-old announced proudly.

"Very good. You can sit down now, Prue," the teacher instructed. Prue gratefully put the chalk down and returned to her seat; heaving a sigh of relief that math was almost over for the day.

Some twenty minutes later the students had been dismissed for recess. Prue found herself once more on the swing set alone. She kicked her legs back and forth lazily, not getting much air.

"Can I use this swing?" a voice asked, bringing her out of her thoughts. She looked up to see Andy Trudeau standing next to her.

"I don't care," she muttered with a shrug.

"You did good in math today," the boy commented after getting a good push off the ground.

"I hate math," Prue muttered. Andy seemed to contemplate this for a moment before speaking again.

"Is it true your Grandma is dead?" h e asked abruptly.

"That's none of your business," Prue spat, jumping off the swing. She glared at him as she started to walk away, fighting the urge to knock him off the swing. Andy watched her go and continued swinging. He'd just been trying to make conversation.

Prue wandered towards a secluded bench in the shade. She slumped onto the wooden structure. As if by some inner radar sense, Piper spotted her sibling and joined her. Neither girl said anything for a few minutes.

"I'm sorry about what Phoebe said on the bus," Piper whispered.

"Don't be," the older of the two replied.

"Is something bothering you?" Piper asked, pulling her knees up to her chest. Even at the age of eight, Piper could tell when something wasn't right with her sisters.

"I don't know. I mean….it's scary that demons can trick us. And what if we can't rid of any more without Mom. What happens then?" Prue rambled.

"But Mom said we can do it. We have to believe in ourselves," Piper recited.

"I guess I'm just scared is all. I hate being scared," Prue grumbled just as the whistle was blown, signaling that recess was over. The girls got to their feet and parted ways, rejoining their respective classes.

Down in the Underworld Ravus paced anxiously. He had not expected the darklighter to fail. He had also not counted on that meddlesome ghost showing up and turning the little brats good again. Just as he turned a circle in the dust for what must have been the millionth time a swirl of black orbs blocked his way. He was face-to-face with that failure of a hired gun.

"You failed," Ravus hissed.

"I did my job. You were the one who said he wouldn't be able to be healed," the darklighter argued back.

"The whitelighter is safe and well and his charges are good again. That is failure," Ravus shouted and with one hand gesture, the creature before burst into flame. Ravus took in deep breaths. He needed to stay calm. He couldn't let the Source know that he was floundering; that mere children were on the verge of defeating him. He was a demon damn it! He needed a plan that would get rid of the Charmed Ones forever. A thought dawned on him, his grotesque features almost glowing with anticipation.

He took in a deep breath, concentrating as hard as he could. He spread his arms out before and began to chant in low, almost inaudible tones. The ground before him began to shake and a large fissure tore through rock. Soon enough there was a large gaping hole and a demon appeared. He looked genuinely surprised to be out of purgatory.

"Who prey tell are you? And how did you summon me?" the lanky demon asked.

"My name is Ravus. I am a servant of the Source. I have brought you here out of your long wait in hell to help me," Ravus began. He knew that Barbas was a force to be reckoned with.

"If you're so buddy buddy with the Source then why do you need me?" Barbas interrupted.

"I said I was a servant, not anyone that close. But I will be once you help me get rid of some pests," he explained, wrapping a clawed hand around Barbas' shoulder.

"Pests eh?" Barbas mimicked.

"The Charmed Ones. It shouldn't be too hard. They're just children," Ravus continued, starting to walk leisurely about.

"Wait a minute. You're telling me you need my help getting rid of three little children? And here I was under the impression you were actually powerful," Barbas chided.

"I don't think you quite understand the situation, my friend. These aren't just ordinary children. They are the Charmed Ones. The most powerful witches the world has ever known. But they are young and still very new to the craft. They should be no problem for you. I'm sure the Source would greatly reward you," Ravus explained.

"Oh, I see. You want me to risk my neck so you get all the glory. I think I'll take my chances in purgatory," Barbas snapped, shrugging Ravus away.

"Barbas, wait! If you destroy these witches, then Evil will be able to rule the entire world. They are the only thing standing between us and world domination," Ravus called out. Barbs stopped walking and turned around.

"Well why didn't you say so in the first place, friend?" he snickered.

"Let's get started then," Ravus sneered.

Back in San Francisco, Victor was pulling up to the Manor. He'd left with plenty of time so that he could be home when the girls got home. He was going to do everything he could for his girls. He wasn't going to lose them. The girls climbed off the bus half an hour later and Piper couldn't help but smile. Victor's car was parked in the driveway.

"What are you smiling about?" Prue asked, opening the front door.

"Nothing," Piper muttered.

"She's thinking about Leo," Phoebe teased.

"Am not," the eight-year-old shot back. The three girls headed into the kitchen, dropping their backpacks in the front hall. Victor emerged from the sun room.

"Hi girls," he greeted. Phoebe smiled and ran to give him a hug.

"Hi Daddy. Guess what," she said, tugging on his sleeve.

"What Pheebs?" he responded, bending to scoop her up.

"Prue didn't get turned evil today," the five-year-old informed her father.

"Well good. I'm very glad to hear that," he remarked. He genuinely meant it as he looked at Prue. She caught his gaze and just shrugged. He took that to mean she was glad he was happy. Piper bent down, picking up a slip of paper. She held it out to her older sister.

"You dropped this," the middle child explained. Prue grabbed it and tried to stuff it in her pocket but Victor stopped her.

"Prue, what is that?" he asked, setting Phoebe down on her feet.

"I don't know," Prue lied. She knew exactly what it was. Victor took it form her and scanned the typed text on the slip.

"Prudence, how can you be failing math?" he asked, his voice stern.

"I don't like math. And what good is it anyways. It's not like I need it to do magic," she grumbled.

"Prue, this is serious. School is very important. We're going to have a talk about this," Victor continued.

"No. I don't want to talk about it," she answered cheekily.

"Well I'm sorry you feel that way but you don't have a choice," he retorted. She groaned and sat down.

"It says you have a big test coming up next week," he noted, glancing at the paper. She just shrugged.

"I'll make you a deal. I will help you with your math homework and studying every night to make sure you are ready for your test," he began.

"What do I get out of it?" she interrupted.

"And in return you can stay up half an hour later for the rest of the week," he answered. She thought about it for a minute. It seemed fair. And she guessed studying with Victor couldn't be all that bad.

"Ok. Fine," Prue agreed.

"I need to go get the mail. I'll be right back," he told the three girls and headed out of the kitchen.

From the living room Barbas listened in. They really were just children. It would be one of the easiest jobs he'd done in his entire existence. Charmed Ones or not he was going to enjoy this.

"Ready or not here I come," he hissed.

He moved silently into view. The girls obviously couldn't see him. He was just an astral projection of his real self. Prue got up and headed in the direction of the downstairs bathroom. He smirked, his discolored and uneven teeth showing. He would get rid of the oldest first. With her gone, the other two would fall apart. Prue shut the door to the bathroom and stared at herself in the mirror. She rubbed at her eyes and turned on the sink. She suddenly felt very hot. Barbas appeared next to her. He watched her run a cloth under the cool water. He ran a hand over her shoulder, sensing her greatest fear.

"Wouldn't be a pity if the sink started to overflow," he whispered in her ear. Prue's eyes widened as the sink drain suddenly plugged up and the water began to fill the sink. The ten-year-old tried to turn the faucet off but it refused to yield to her desires.

"Ok, Prue. Don't panic. The sink is just stuck. It's just a sink," she breathed, trying not to panic. She hated water. She always had, ever since her mother's death. Barbas couldn't help but smile evilly as she began to back away from the sink.

"Look out," Barbas called in a hushed voice as he created the illusion that the heater valve had burst and water was starting to spray everywhere.

"V-Victor?" Prue called out but got no answer. Her eyes widened in fear as the toilet water began to rise too.

"What's happening?" she gasped.

"Wouldn't it just be so sad if you couldn't be there to keep your sisters safe? Wouldn't it be just awful to leave them all alone and helpless?" Barbas heckled. Prue was beginning to panic now. The water seemed to be staying the room and it was rising quickly. She turned and tried to open the bathroom door but found it too would not budge.

"Help! Someone help me! Piper, Phoebe!" she called out as loud as she could but it felt like she wasn't making any sound at all.

Back in the kitchen Piper looked up, swearing she could have heard a noise. She just shrugged, figuring it was a bird outside. She looked around, suddenly realizing Phoebe had disappeared. Sighing, the eight-year-old stood up and started to go in search of her baby sister. She got as far as the front hall. Barbas had left Prue in her own self destruction and had joined Piper. He revealed her fear to himself and snickered softly. It was always something emotional with humans. Piper saw before suitcases and Victor coming down the stairs.

"Dad, what's going on?" she asked, not knowing it was all an illusion. Victor just ignored her. He picked up the bags and started for the door.

"Daddy? Where are you going?" Piper begged, clutching onto his arm.

"I have to go," he answered, his tone flat.

"Please don't leave. We need you….I need you. You can't go again. Who will take care of us?" Piper babbled, close to tears now.

"Just a pity if your Daddy left again and didn't come back. So sad that he doesn't love you," Barbas taunted in her ear. Piper fell to her knees, large sobs wracking her body as she watched the apparition of Victor leave.

Barbas laughed loudly. This was too easy. He saw the youngest seated in front of the TV. He sat down next to her, waving a hand in front of her, obtaining her fear as well. She didn't even notice the see-through figure next to her.

"Pathetic humanity," he groaned. Why did they all have to be so damn concerned with others, especially family? He got comfortable before wrecking havoc on the five-year-old. Suddenly, before her eyes Phoebe saw Victor lying on the ground, an athame protruding from his chest.

"Daddy!" Phoebe screamed, rushing to his side. She tried to shake him but nothing happened. She got cold chills as the day they became witches flooded her thoughts. She had to call for Leo. He could save her father.

"Leo!" she squeaked out.

"He won't hear you," Barbas sneered.

"Isn't it just so terrible that you lost your Daddy too? What are you going to do now?" he asked, enjoying himself. Phoebe fell on her father's limp body.

"Where will you go now? Wouldn't it just be devastating if you were taken away from your sisters? Never to see each other again," he continued. Phoebe's small frame shuddered as Barbas' statements rattled around in her head. His work was done. Ravus had been right, this was easy. He would make sure they fell, scared to death by their fears. With that he disappeared. He rejoined his body in the Underworld.

"Tell the Source that the Charmed Ones are no more," Barbas said triumphantly. Ravus looked pleased that his plan had worked. Janice would have been pleased. Back at the Manor, Victor walked back inside, having had to fight with the neighbor next door about a mail mix-up. He found Piper sobbing on the floor.

"Piper…sweetie what's wrong?" he asked, bending down and lifting her chin. His touch was enough to bring her out of Barbas' illusion.

"You….you were leaving us…again," she sniffled.

"Piper. I would never leave you again. I promise, I'm here to stay, even though Prue doesn't like it," he promised, kissing the top of her head and drying her tears with his thumb.

"Where are you sisters?" he asked. He could hear Phoebe crying in the next room. He and Piper rushed in to find her sprawled on the floor.

"Phoebe," Victor called, shaking his youngest daughter. Again, his touch brought her back to reality.

"Daddy….you….died and…." Phoebe sniffled.

"Shh.. It's ok baby. I'm here. I'm not dead," he shushed her, cradling her quivering frame in his strong arms. He was sensing a pattern here. He could tell that someone was playing on his daughter's fear and he had a distinct feeling it was demonic in nature.

"Piper, honey. I need you to tell me something," he said hurriedly. She nodded and waited for him to ask his question.

"What is Prue afraid of?" he asked.

"She doesn't like water," she answered.

"Where did she go?" he continued.

"Bathroom," Phoebe supplied. He set the five-year-old down and rushed towards the bathroom. By now Prue had stopped screaming. In her delusion the water had filled the room and she was quickly running out of air. Victor tugged on the door handle, finding it locked.

"Damn it, Prue," he cursed softly, putting all his weight into it. Finally the lock gave way and he managed to push the door open. Without a word he pulled Prue from the room. She too found herself back in reality at her father's touch. She gasped for breath.

"It's ok, Prue. You're alright. You're ok," he breathed, holding her close. For the first time in nearly two years his oldest daughter clung to him, tears streaming down her face.

"I was so scared," she whimpered.

"I know. But it's over," he murmured, holding her tightly. Just then Leo appeared in blue and white, having finally sensed his charges in need.

"Is everyone alright?" he asked as Piper and Phoebe came into the small area outside the bathroom.

"I'm not sure but I think some kind of demon attacked them," Victor explained.

"But Daddy saved us," Phoebe explained, latching onto her father. Piper followed suit.

"As long as you girls are safe," Leo sighed and began to orb away.

"Leo," Piper called.

"Yes, Piper?" he replied.

"Can you stay for dinner?" she asked. He gave her a smile.

"Sure," he answered, knowing it would make her happy. He wanted to ask the girls what they had experienced but he could sense that they needed time to get back to reality.

"Thank you…Dad," Prue breathed, pulling away from Victor.

"Did you….you just called me Dad," Victor stated in disbelief.

"You're sticking around so I guess I have to call you something other than Victor," she muttered, getting up and walking away from her father. Victor smiled after her. It was a step in the right direction.


	12. Tying Loose Ends is Never Simple

_Tying Loose Ends Is Never Simple_

The family of four plus Leo gathered around the dining room table a few hours later. Victor had actually cooked. The kitchen was a mess but right now he was going to enjoy this meal with his girls. He couldn't stop thinking about how he had managed to save them and all he had to do was be their father. Leo glanced around the table at the Halliwells. He was concerned that he hadn't felt his charges in danger sooner. Of course the Elders had been keeping his attention averted from the girls all day.

"Piper, could you pass the green beans?" Victor asked, breaking the silence. Piper pushed the dish of beans towards her father, not looking at him. He tried to shrug it off as nothing. Phoebe looked at her sister, noticing she was staring off into space.

"Piper likes Leo," Phoebe whispered just loud enough for the rest of the room to hear. She giggled and started to say it louder. Piper glared at the five-year-old and kicked her in the shin under the table.

"Ow! Daddy, Piper kicked me," Phoebe squealed, rubbing her sore leg.

"Piper, don't kick your sister," Victor scolded.

"But she was making fun of me," Piper protested.

"That doesn't mean you can kick her," Victor replied. Piper just let out a very Prue-like huff and turned back to her food. Prue watched the interaction in silence. She was still very confused as to what happened and she wanted some answers, soon.

"Phoebe, Piper, apologize to each other," Victor ordered sternly. The two younger Halliwells turned and gave each other brief hugs with softly whispered "I'm sorries". The rest of the meal passed quickly and in silence. The girls placed their plates in the sink and headed for the front hallway to gather up backpacks and start on homework.

"Prue," Victor called up the stairs. She turned around and looked at him.

"Come get me when you are ready to do your math homework,' he reminded her.

"Ok," she muttered, disappearing up the landing and down the hall.

Victor walked down the few steps he'd gone up and found Leo in the kitchen starting on the dirty dishes. Victor grabbed a rag and began to dry the clean utensils and plates. Neither man said anything for what seemed like ages.

"So what happened earlier?" Leo finally asked. He didn't like feeling so vulnerable, not knowing what was happening with his charges.

"I'm not really sure exactly. I went to get the mail," Victor began, tossing silverware back into the drawer.

"I come back in and I find Piper sobbing on the floor. She's babbling about me leaving again," he continued, having to take a deep breath. That still bothered him.

"Then I found Phoebe crying in the living room. She was saying she thought I'd died. And Prue…I don't know what happened with Prue," Victor finished. He watched Leo's facial expression. Leo was trying to think what this could have possibly been. The elders hadn't mentioned any new threats on the horizon that the girls would have to worry about.

"I honestly don't know. It doesn't sound entirely demonic. I mean the girls just recently lost their grandmother and got you back. It could be residual shock and trauma," Leo explained.

"I may not be magical but I think after living with Patty for five years, I know when something magical is happening," Victor refuted.

"We should check the Book of Shadows and see if anything sticks out," Leo suggested. He turned and held his hands out over the rest of the dirty dishes. They miraculously cleaned themselves and put themselves away.

"That's a handy little trick," Victor commented as the two men headed upstairs. In their room, Phoebe and Piper were sitting on Piper's bed. They had school books out but neither was looking at them.

"Sorry I kicked you," Piper apologized again.

"Sorry too," Phoebe replied. They shared another sisterly hug.

"I'm scared," the five-year-old professed after a moment of quiet.

"Me too. I don't know what happened. But I thought Dad was leaving and not coming back again," Piper sighed, having to wipe a fresh tear from her eye.

"Daddy was dead and that lady was going to take us all away," Phoebe sniffled.

"I want Mommy," Phoebe whimpered.

"Me too," Piper agreed, once more pulling her baby sister into a hug.

In the next room, Prue was sitting cross-legged on her bed, staring at the wall. She didn't want to do her homework. She just wanted to sit and think. She didn't know much about magic yet but she could tell that this was somehow magical. She had to admit she didn't expect Victor to be there for her or her sisters. But he had. It had been his presence that had saved them all from whatever it was that had gotten to them. Sighing, Prue got up and wandered into her siblings' room.

"What are you two doing?" she asked softly.

"We want Mom," Piper managed to get out. Prue's heart ached for her mother too but she knew she had to be strong. She wrapped her arms around her sisters.

"I'm here for you. I'm never going to leave you. I promise," she breathed. It wasn't mom but it would have to do. Prue's ears suddenly pricked up as she heard footsteps on the stairs going up to the attic.

"Come on, let's see what they're doing," she said, dragging her sisters after the footsteps. They found Leo and Victor leaning over the Book of Shadows.

"What are you doing?" Piper asked; arms crossed over her chest.

"We're trying to figure out what might have attacked you," Leo explained.

Down in the Underworld, Ravus and Barbas were sitting in a cave. Ravus had his eyes closed, trying to see if he could sense the girls. Barbas was just watching him, boredom written all over his face. He'd scared the wits out of the Charmed Ones. He felt like he should be out taking advantage of the fact that he was out of Purgatory a couple decades early.

"What exactly are you doing?" he finally asked. Ravus opened his eye sand glared at the other demon.

"Trying to sense them," he snapped.

"Oh so you think you're a whitelighter now," Barbas sneered.

"Would you just keep your mouth shut so I can concentrate?" he snarled.

"So sorry," Barbas apologized in a mocking tone. He was about to leave when Ravus nearly erupted in fury.

"They're alive!" he howled.

"Impossible," Barbas remarked.

"Well they are alive. It seems that annoying father of theirs interfered," Ravus ground out.

"You didn't tell me anything about the father! You never told me he was nearby," Barbas accused. There was no way that he would be pinned for this mess up.

"Go back and kill them!" Ravus ordered.

"I don't kill. I let the fears do that. But I can't very well do that if people keep getting in my way," Barbas shot back and disappeared in flames. Ravus was livid. His plans kept falling apart. How was he supposed to gain a place of honor and respect with the Source and the rest of the Underworld if he couldn't take out the Charmed Ones?

Back in the Manor the girls had gathered around the book, watching pages flip as Leo held his hands over it. He was concentrating, trying to tap into the magical network that ran through all of nature.

"Anything?" Victor prodded.

"Nothing. Well there's one possibility but it's very unlikely," Leo answered.

"Well what's the possibility?" Victor wanted to know. He looked anxious.

"There's a demon….by the name of Barbas. He is the Demon of Fear. He makes your fears come to life and they ultimately kill you. But he is only released from Purgatory every thirteen hundred years. He won't be on our plane for another few decades," Leo explained.

"So…if it's not this Barbas guy then what could it have been?" Victor interrogated.

"I don't know. I'm going to check with my bosses and see if they know anything," Leo sighed and disappeared. Phoebe grew tired of standing on her tip toes and sat down on Grams' old trunk. As her hand brushed against the edge of the trunk, she was pulled into a premonition. She inhaled sharply as the vision hit her.

"_Don't scream," the demon hissed, flashing her a set of pointy yellow teeth._

"_What do you want?" Penny asked, losing her usual confidence around demons. All she could focus on was the girls upstairs. She had to protect them. They were more vulnerable now than they had ever been._

"_What any demon wants witch," he snickered and sent her flying over the table. She pulled herself up and sent him flying into the nearby wall._

"_You're attempts are pathetic," he hissed, advancing on her._

"_You can't have them. They don't have their powers. They're of no use to you," Penny tried to argue._

"_But they will have them…once you're out of the way," he cackled._

The image changed to show Grams trying to run up the stairs with the demon in toe. She'd seen this already. As quickly as the vision came, it was gone. She knew what had happened.

"We have to find the demon that killed Grams," she said, her voice more confident than it had been all day.

"Ok…but we don't know what it looks like," Prue replied. She would love to find the creature responsible for taking Grams away.

"I know. It's blue. It's what tried to kill Daddy," the youngest of the sisters explained, climbing up onto the book. She began flipping pages at random.

"Honey, here why don't I help you," Victor offered. He began to flip pages to the end of the book. When he found nothing that Phoebe recognized, they started at the front. Victor looked over at Prue and Piper. Prue was looking through the contents of Grams' trunk. She seemed to have discovered ritual implements; cloths, candles, ceremonial bowls. Piper on the other hand was standing off to the side, not looking at her father. here," he informed his second daughter. She looked up at the sound of his voice and obeyed.

"What's bothering you?" he asked, sitting down and pulling her into his lap.

"I thought you'd really left,' Piper whispered. Victor lifted her chin so their eyes met.

"I am never leaving you girls again. We're going to figure out what happened," he assured her.

"Daddy I found it!" Phoebe squealed. Both of her sisters rushed to see what she had stumbled upon.

"Ravus," Prue read aloud. She scanned the information the book gave on the demon. He was definitely ugly. She briefly remembered what Janice had looked like.

"There is a spell at the bottom," Piper noted.

"Maybe we say it and he goes away," Phoebe commented.

"I think we should wait to see what Leo has to say," Victor interjected. They wouldn't have enough time. Ravus had grown frustrated in trying to track down Barbas. He had had no luck so far and was going to give up when a plan hit him. He could just go and take the witches out himself. He could wound the father and the whitelighter and attack the girls before any of them knew what happened. With a sadistic smirk he shimmered out. He reappeared in the attic to find Victor and girls behind the book.

"Girls!" Victor shouted, catching their attention. They all looked up.

"Hello girlies," Ravus snarled. Prue immediately squinted at him, sending him stumbling back a few paces.

"Piper…freeze him," she ordered. Piper threw her hands out and Ravus froze mid-step.

"Now what do we do?" Phoebe asked in confusion. Ravus wasn't moving but he was still clearly a problem.

"We have to say the spell," Piper answered, grabbing Prue and Phoebe by the hands. They all looked at the spell in the book. It was kind of complicated and Prue wasn't sure that she knew all the words and what they meant but it didn't much matter. They had to say the spell quickly before Ravus unfroze.

"Evil is a faithful foe but good does battle best. With these words we waste this demon's evil zest," the three girls recited as best they could; stumbling over some of the words. Ravus unfroze and began to burn.

"Say it again girls," Victor urged.

"Evil is a faithful foe but good does battle best. With these words we waste this demon's evil zest," they repeated, this time more confidently. Ravus began to scream in pain as he was consumed completely with hellfire. Just as the girls began to recite the spell again, he burst into ash.

"We did it!" Prue exclaimed, jumping up and down.

"What did you do?" Leo asked, rematerializing.

"We killed the demon that killed Grams," Piper informed the whitelighter.

"Impressive," he responded.

"Well the Elders don't know anything about Barbas being released early. So we'll still have to look into what happened today. But I think right now you girls need to get back to your homework," Leo informed the family of four.

"Will you help me with my math?" Prue asked, addressing Victor.

"Of course," he answered, happy to be able to do something with Prue other than argue. They headed downstairs, Piper and Phoebe dragging Leo with them into their room.

"He's going to help us," Piper told her father as she shut the door. Victor just shook his head. This was certainly going to be an interesting experience.


	13. Unlucky 13

_Unlucky 13_

The bell rang and the rest of the kids in Prue's class sprinted for the door to the playground. She slowly stood up and pushed in her chair. She thought she was alone so she squinted her eyes and watched as the chair finished sliding across the floor.

"Hi Prue," a familiar voice called. Prue spun around, coming face-to-face with Andy.

"Andy," she gasped. She started to panic that he had seen her use her powers. She knew that Leo would not be happy.

"You want to play red rover with me?" he asked, not seeming to have noticed her little magic act. She looked at him and had to think. She didn't really like to play those kinds of games.

"Ok," she answered with a shrug before she could stop herself. He gave her a broad smile as he led her outside to the soccer field. A few other fifth graders were standing around, as if waiting for Andy to arrive.

They picked teams and lined up facing each other. The game actually seemed fun to Prue as she sprinted between people to avoid being caught. She elicited a shriek as Andy tackled her to the ground.

"I got you," he said triumphantly.

"Ok. Now get up," she said, trying to push him off of her. As Andy helped her up they received a nasty look from one of the teachers on duty.

"Do you want to walk home from school with me?" Andy offered. They did live next door to each other after all.

"I can't. My dad is picking us up and he doesn't let me walk home," she explained. Normally she would have said yes and ditched Victor but she didn't want him to freak out on her again.

"Ok. Maybe you can come over sometime and we can hang out," he offered. Prue just rolled her eyes. She had yet to hit that phase where boys were no longer disgusting.

"Maybe," she said with a shrug as the pair headed back inside with the rest of the class.

Across town a police car pulled up to a brownstone. Two men climbed out and headed into the building. They walked into the second story apartment, ducking under the crime scene tape and surveyed the body. It was a young woman who appeared to be in her late twenties or what was left of her that is. Parts of her had been left all over the room. The one thing that caught the lead detective's eye was her shock white hair.

"This is the tenth girl we've found like this in the last week and a half," Alex Trudeau sighed as he bent to examine the body more closely.

"Well actually Trudeau, we haven't found any other bodies this mutilated," his partner commented.

"I meant the hair, Porter. The last nine victims have had shock white hair, just like this one," Trudeau explained.

"Oh, right. You think we've got some kind of wacky serial killer on our hands?" Porter questioned.

"Honestly, I don't know. It doesn't make sense. Ten women all found dead, shock white hair but cause of death is different for each one. There's really no pattern here," Alex muttered. He hated having a rookie for a partner.

Little did they know but a certain whitelighter had been eavesdropping on their conversation. Leo backed away from the scene and managed to avoid walking into a crime scene technician. He headed down the hallway and hurriedly disappeared in blue and white orbs. He appeared in the heavens and approached a robed Elder.

"Rowan," Leo called out. The Elder turned around and lowered his hood.

"Leo, what can I do for you?" he asked.

"I think Barbas has escaped and has been attacking witches," Leo informed the Elder.

"We haven't felt any changes. We would know if he had escaped Purgatory," Rowan assured Leo.

"I'm telling you it's him. The girls, I think that's what happened. I think he attacked them a few weeks ago," Leo protested.

"I'm sorry Leo but it's not possible. It would take someone like the Source to bring Barbas here before his time," Rowan argued back.

"Fine. Don't believe me. But there are ten dead unmarried witches down there. He only needs three more before he will be on this plane for eternity. He's going to go after the Charmed Ones," Leo grumbled.

"They are your charges Leo. It is your job to protect and guide them," Rowan commented.

Leo couldn't believe the Elders were denying the fact that Barbas was back. How could they not sense his power? He was an upper level demon. He had to at least warn Victor. He owed the man that much since he had saved them once before. Leo disappeared once more in orbs and reappeared in the hallway of Victor's work. He walked in and walked up to the secretary.

"Hi, may I help you?" she asked.

"I need to speak with Victor Bennett. It's urgent," Leo answered.

"Do you have an appointment?" she inquired.

"No…just please…tell him Leo is here to see him," Leo pressed upon her. She eyed him strangely but got up and went into a corner office. She stepped out a moment later and motioned for the whitelighter to follow her. Victor looked up from his desk.

"Leo?" he asked as he motioned for the other man to shut the door.

"Victor, this couldn't wait. The girls are in danger," Leo said in a hushed tone.

"Haven't they been in danger since their grandmother died?" Victor asked.

"Barbas is back," Leo explained.

"But you said…." Victor trailed off.

"I said it was a possibility but I didn't think it was a very strong one. Well now it is. He's killed ten witches already. He has to kill three more and will be able to exist on our plane for eternity," the whitelighter continued.

"You don't think….he'll go after the girls do you?" Victor asked, his voice shaky.

"I think that's exactly what he's going to do. If he can take the Charmed Ones not even the Source could challenge his power," Leo answered, not sounding happy at all about the prospect of his newest charges having to face such a powerful enemy. He wasn't sure they were ready for that kind of battle. But he also knew that Barbas wouldn't care if he was evenly matched or not. He was only interested in self-preservation.

"I don't think you need to worry about the girls right now. They should be safe at school. He wouldn't attack in a crowd. There'd be too many people around to save them," he continued.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Victor snapped.

"Actually…yes," the younger of the two men answered.

"Look, I don't even know what I'm supposed to do with this information. If you didn't notice, I'm not magical. There's nothing I can do to protect my daughters," Victor sighed.

"I think it would be safer if you drive home and I orb you to pick up the girls. It gives him less of an opportunity of attacking while you're on the road," Leo suggested. Victor just nodded. Just then there was a knock and the door opened.

"You're one fifteen appointment is here Mr. Bennett," the secretary announced. Victor motioned for her to see the client in.

"I'll see you at the Manor in a couple hours," Leo said and walked out of the office. He thanked the secretary and disappeared once more in light. Back at school, Piper was on her way back from the bathroom when she ran into Prue.

"I saw you playing with Andy," Piper said, stopping in her tracks.

"It was fun," Prue admitted.

"He likes you," Piper snickered.

"You sound like Phoebe," Prue muttered.

"Do you think we'll ever figure out what happened?" Piper questioned suddenly.

"I don't know. Maybe. I trust Leo. If anyone can find out what it was, it's him," Prue reassured her younger sister. Prue couldn't entirely believe that she had said she trusted Leo. Apparently neither could Piper because the eight-year-old just gawked at her sibling for a moment before moving on back to her class.

Prue wandered into the bathroom and checked to make sure no one else was in there. She faced the sink in front of her. She needed to get away from everyone else. She had wanted to practice controlling her power. She had a feeling she was going to need it, and soon. She squinted at the faucet and the tap turned, water pouring out. She smiled to herself. This wasn't so hard. Within a few minutes, Prue had all four sinks almost over flowing with water. She quickly shut them off, not wanting to flood the bathroom and watched the water start to recede.

"Cool," she muttered to herself, pulling the door open and walking back to her class. An hour later all three girls were reunited and looking for Victor's car in the line to be picked up.

"Girls," Victor called out, waving them over to where he stood. Prue took Phoebe by the hand and led her sisters to where he was.

"Where's the car?" Prue wanted to know.

"Well…Leo is taking us home. He thinks it will be safer that way," Victor explained as Leo stepped out from behind the edge of the building. They all joined hands and in moments they were back at the Manor.

"That was fun. Can we do it again?" Phoebe begged, tugging on Leo's sleeve.

"Not right now, Phoebe," Leo answered, suddenly growing stern.

"Why do I feel like we have to do something magical?" Piper asked. Leo couldn't help but smile at her.

"I know what came after you. It was the Demon of Fear. Someone let him out early," Leo explained.

"What do we do?" Prue asked.

"We need to get the Book of Shadows. There is a potion in there to vanquish him," Leo answered. Prue immediately sprinted up the stairs, returning shortly with the hefty tome. They all crowded around the dining room table and flipped through the book until they found the page on Barbas. The ingredients were listed on the bottom of the page as well as the recipe to make the potion. Leo led them into the kitchen and began gathering what they'd need.

"Can I do anything?" Victor asked, feeling awkward standing there watching his daughters brew a potion.

"Can you cut these up?" Leo asked, pointing to some odd looking roots. Victor nodded and began to chop them as quickly as he could.

"Damn," he cursed as he nicked the tip of his finger.

"Is the pot boiling yet, Piper?" Leo asked over his shoulder. Piper peered into the large pot.

"Yes," she reported.

"Ok, we need to put this in first," he said, pointing to some dried herbs. Prue eyed them, sending them into the pot.

"You're getting better at controlling your power, Prue," Leo commented, sound quite pleased.

"I practice," she announced.

"I want to put that in," Phoebe said, pointing to what Victor was cutting. Leo nodded and Victor pushed the root over to the five-year-old. Carefully Phoebe placed them in the pot. Leo was about to read off the next instruction when a noise caught his attention.

"Stay here," he told the Halliwells as he ventured out into the hallway. He was momentarily sent flying backwards. Victor figured that was not a good sign and took over reading the instructions for the potion. Just as Prue dropped the last ingredient in, Barbas sauntered into the kitchen.

"What do we have here?" the demon snickered. Victor grabbed Phoebe and put himself between his daughters and demon before him.

"Still trying to keep them safe," Barbas sighed as he shook his head.

"You're not going to hurt my girls," Victor spat defiantly.

"Hmm…let's see what dear old Daddy's fear is," the demon sniggered. He was about to wave his hand in front of Victor when Leo jumped on him. He eyed the potion. It was about to bubble over.

"The potion!" Leo managed to shout before Barbas struggled from his grip. Prue's gaze flitted between the pot and the demon struggling with Leo. She had an idea forming but she wasn't sure if her powers were strong enough to do. She grabbed Phoebe and Piper by the hands and concentrated. The concoction in the pot began to rise from the container. It hovered in mid-air as Prue realized what she was doing. She started to get excited and the substance began to slide back into the pot.

"Prue, focus," Victor called out, placing a hand on her shoulder, hoping she would feel his support.

The ten-year-old's brow furrowed as she concentrated again. She could feel her sisters concentrating too. Together they managed to use enough collective power to send the potion hurdling towards the demon. Leo orbed out just as the potion hit Barbas.

"I'll be back! I always am. Fear never goes away," he cried as he burst into flame, leaving a faint scorch mark on the kitchen floor.

"We did it!" Piper squealed, jumping up and down, swinging her sister's arm vigorously.

"I couldn't have done it without you and Phoebe to help me focus," Prue addressed her sisters.

"So he's going to come back?" Victor asked, referencing the demon's parting words.

"Eventually. But I'm pretty sure we won't see him for a long time," Leo replied. Just then the room was filled with bright lights as Rowan appeared.

"Rowan," Leo said, standing up.

"I owe you and apology, Leo," the Elder said, surveying the kitchen.

"Who….are you?" Victor asked.

"He's…one of my bosses," Leo said hurriedly.

"I see you made sure nothing befell your charges. You have done well," the Elder complimented Leo.

"I'd say thank you but it was really the girls. It was the Power of Three that vanquished Barbas," Leo muttered. Rowan took a step closer to Leo.

"They may be young but they have the Halliwell spirit," he whispered, making Leo smirk. With that, Rowan disappeared in orbs, leaving the family alone again.

"Who wants to help clean up the kitchen?" Victor asked, knowing none of the girls would volunteer.

"I do," Phoebe said, raising her hand as high as she could.

"We all will. We made the mess," Prue replied. Victor smiled as he watched his three girls clean up the kitchen. He'd worry about the scorch mark on the floor later.

Hours later, Victor was tucking Phoebe into bed. He kissed her forehead and told her loved her. He moved over to Piper's bed and did the same thing.

"Night Dad," Piper sighed, curling up under the covers.

"Good night, Piper," he breathed as he shut the door and knocked lightly on Prue's door. She pulled it open, already in her pajamas.

"Night. I'm proud of you," he said. Prue averted her gaze. Just because she was calling him Dad now didn't change the fact that she still harbored some hard feelings and trust issues for him.

"Thanks," she mumbled and shut the door.


	14. New Years Cleaners

_New Years Cleaners_

New Years was upon the Halliwells and Victor was busy planning a huge party for the girls and some of their friends. He knew Phoebe was a little young to stay up until midnight but he figured she'd want to anyways. He was sitting in the sun room, looking over the list of people he'd complied. Just then there was a jingling sound and Leo appeared.

"Leo, you scared me," Victor gasped, not expecting the young whitelighter to just appear like that.

"I'm sorry, Victor. I didn't mean to startle you. How are the plans going for the party?" Leo responded. Victor ran a hand over his eyes.

"It's going. I just don't know who to invite. I don't many of the girls' friends or their friend' parents," Victor sighed.

"Well you don't want to invite too many people…just in case a demon attacks," Leo advised. Even if Victor wasn't one of his charges, it didn't mean he couldn't advise him on magic.

"I know. I just want this to be special for the girls. It's their first New Years without their Grandmother," Victor replied.

"I understand. You could ask them who they want to invite," Leo suggested.

"I have. These are all the people they told me," Victor said with a small laugh, showing Leo the list. There were about twenty names on the list.

"I see your problem. You could have them pick the two or three people they really want to come and invite just them and their parents," he replied.

"Girls, can you come in here for a minute, please?" Victor called. The three girls wandered in from the living room. The sounds of the TV could still be heard.

"I want you each to pick two or three friends that you really want to invite to the party because we can't invite everyone," he explained.

"Why not, Daddy?" Phoebe asked, climbing into his lap.

"Because we don't have enough room for everybody," he lied. He knew they could all see right through it.

"You're just afraid that we might accidentally use magic, aren't you?" Prue asked.

"Well not exactly, Prue. I'm more worried about demons trying to attack and scaring all the guests," Victor answered.

"But they haven't come after us in a long time. Maybe they won't anymore," Piper interjected.

"I certainly hope they won't. But don't you want to keep your friends safe?" he replied. All three girls nodded in the affirmative.

"Ok. So pick who you want to invite so I can send out the invitations," he instructed them, setting Phoebe on her feet so he could stand up. The girls gathered around the list that Phoebe was clutching. Prue immediately circled Andy's name on the list. She circled a couple others and passed the list to Piper. She picked some people and helped Phoebe circle the ones she wanted.

"I want to invite Mommy and Grams," Phoebe voiced.

"We can't invite them, Pheebs. They're dead. You can't invite dead people to a party," Prue replied with an eye roll.

"Why not?" the five-year-old asked.

"Well because…they're dead," the ten-year-old answered.

"Oh," Phoebe murmured.

Prue took the list from Piper and headed in the direction Victor had gone. She found him pulling out a half empty beer from the fridge.

"We picked," she said, offering up the list. He took it and glanced over. He noticed that Andy was the only boy on the list.

"You sure you want to invite Andy Trudeau?" he asked.

"Yes. He's my friend. And he lives next door," Prue answered. She could have friends that were boys. It wasn't against the rules.

"Ok. He's the only boy on the list, that's all," Victor expounded. Prue just shrugged and started back towards the living room.

"Prue," he called out and she turned.

"What?" she asked.

"I'm happy to see you're not failing math," he said.

"You helped," she replied. She had to admit he was a good tutor.

"Go watch some TV. I'll call you all when dinner is ready," he told her. Prue nodded and found her sisters warring over the TV remote.

"Phoebe I don't want to watch this. Give me the remote," Piper demanded.

"No! You got to pick the last show,' the youngest Halliwell argued.

"Phoebe, give me the remote," Piper shot back.

"Hey. I have an idea. How about we do a puzzle together," Prue suggested, telekinetically taking the remote from her baby sister and turning the TV off.

"What kind of puzzle?" Phoebe asked, seeming interested.

"A jigsaw puzzle. One with lots of pieces," Prue answered. Both Phoebe and Piper nodded and Prue went in search of one in the game closet. She returned and dumped all the pieces onto the carpet. After about five minutes Prue was near exploding.

"Where does this piece go?" Phoebe asked for about the millionth time.

"We don't know yet, Phoebe. That's the point of the puzzle. You have to find out," Prue said through pursed lips. Phoebe's lower lip quivered but she didn't cry. Instead she just got up and left the room.

"Now she's going to go cry to Dad," Piper groaned.

"You know she was annoying you too," Prue commented.

"I know but she is only five," Piper retorted.

"She shouldn't have to ask something five million times," Prue grumbled, connecting a few pieces together.

Down the hall Phoebe was sitting in the closet, sobbing. Leo walked by and heard the loud sniffles. He slowly opened the door to see Phoebe sitting on the floor.

"Phoebe what are you doing in the closet?" he asked, bending down to her level.

"Prue yelled at me," Phoebe sniffled.

"Why'd she do that?" he asked, opening his arms. She crawled into his embrace.

"We were doing a puzzle and I asked where a piece went. She yelled at me," Phoebe sniffed some more.

"I'm sure she didn't mean to upset you," Leo cooed, rubbing calming circles on the child's back.

"They treat me like a baby," Phoebe whimpered.

"They just forget sometimes that you're younger, that's all," Leo said, managing to calm her down.

"Thanks, Leo," Phoebe whispered, drying her tears. Leo smiled down at her. He led her back into the living room and sat down with Piper and Prue.

"Need some help?" he asked. Both of the older girls nodded.

Meanwhile, down in the Underworld, the Source was pacing back and forth anxiously. It had been months and he had not been able to even weaken the Charmed Ones. They were only children for God sakes. They couldn't be that powerful. He spun around to face the group of demons that were assembled before him.

"We need to strike hard and fast before they know what hits them," he growled.

"Your Highness, no one has been able to take them on. Not even Barbas succeeded," a shape shifter called out.

"That is because they were not fighting on multiple fronts. We need to attack when they are most vulnerable, less likely to use their magic," the Source snickered. He turned to the Oracle seated at his side.

"Oracle, what do you see?" he asked

"I see…the father is planning some sort of gathering for the New Year. It looks as though he is inviting non-magical creatures. It would be an ideal time to attack," she answered, stroking her crystal ball.

"Very well then. You will attack during their gathering. Force them to use their magic, make them expose it," the Source demanded.

"And when it has been exposed, leave before anyone has time to vanquish you. We want to draw out the Cleaners. They will have no choice but to erase them from existence," the Source boomed. The demons gasped at the mention of the Cleaners. It was a good plan. They would be rid of the Charmed Ones forever and no one would be able to stop them from taking over the world.

Two days later the Halliwells found themselves surrounded by the small collective of friends they had invited over. Prue was sitting on the couch, eating some popcorn when Andy sat down next to her.

"Thanks for inviting me," he said, taking a piece of popcorn from her hand and tossing it in his mouth.

"Well we are friends," Prue said, smiling a little as he took the popcorn.

"Your Dad seems nice," Andy remarked after a moment.

"He's ok, I guess," she sighed, reaching for her glass of sparkling cider.

She looked around at the rest of the party. Everyone seemed to be happy fun. In the kitchen Leo and Victor were mixing up drinks when there was a loud crash and a scream. They both set the drinks down and headed for the source of the noise. They came into the room to see several of their guests hiding behind furniture. A group of demons bearing energy balls were tormenting the mortals. Piper looked nervously at the demon closest to her. She knew she wasn't supposed to use her magic in front of mortals but she also knew that Leo would say they were innocents. So she quickly shot her hands out, freezing the nearest one.

By this point Prue had dragged Andy into the room as they were being pursued by their own gaggle of demons. She managed to send the energy ball of the frozen demon at one of the ones following her, making him explode.

"Daddy, look out!" Phoebe cried. Victor managed to duck just as a fire ball went hurtling inches above his head. The remaining demons managed to corral the three sisters into the center of the room. They had no choice but to fight back. Prue sent several demons flying and Piper tried to freeze as many as she could.

"There's too many of them," Prue gasped, taking hold of her siblings' hands, trying to keep them close. Just then all the demons simultaneously vanished. Prue started to heave a sigh of relief when the scene froze and two figures dressed in white suits appeared.

"Did you freeze the room, Piper?" Prue hissed in the eight-year-old's ear.

"No," Piper answered, looking up at the two men. Leo who had not frozen moved to stand behind the girls.

"What are you doing here?" he asked the two men.

"We have come to clean up the mess that has been made here," one of them answered.

"Who are you?" Prue asked.

"We are the Cleaners. We clean up where magic has been exposed," the second answered.

"We didn't espose magic," Phoebe said.

"I'm afraid you did. This entire group of mortals has witnessed your magic," the first Cleaner explained.

"But that's not our fault. We were attacked by demons," Prue retorted.

"There are no demons here," the second Cleaner stated.

"They left," Piper supplied.

"Look…what are you going to do?" Leo asked.

"Their magic and any memory of it must be erased," the second Cleaner answered.

"What? You're going to erase them?" Leo gasped. They couldn't do that.

"Precisely. Memories will linger but they will fade with time," the first Cleaner assured Leo.

"You can't erase them. You're supposed to be neutral. If you erase the girls, you give Evil the upper hand and that's not very neutral," Leo shot. They had no right to try and erase the Charmed Ones.

"We're the Charmed Ones," Prue added defiantly. Just then Victor unfroze.

"What's going on? Who are these guys?" he asked.

"How did he unfreeze?" one of the Cleaners asked the other.

"I think…I think I unfroze him," Piper admitted.

"These are the Cleaners. They are here to clean up the exposed magic but they think they can do that by erasing the girls from existence," Leo explained in one breath.

"I don't think so. You're not taking my girls away from me," Victor spat.

"Their magic must be cleaned up. And I do not think they are capable of doing it themselves," the first Cleaner said coolly.

"Ok…so erase the memory of the magic from the mortals. Just don't take the girls," Leo begged. The two men in white shared a look but nodded.

"It is done. Next time we will not be so lenient," the second Cleaner said and they disappeared. The room unfroze and people looked around as if nothing had happened.

Down in the Underworld the Source was fuming. How could his plan have been thwarted? He rounded on the Oracle, glaring viciously at her.

"How could my plan have failed? They weren't supposed to be able to barter with the Cleaners," the Source howled in frustration.

"Well that's what you get for putting your faith and trust in being who tend to lean just a little bit to the side of good," the Oracle commented.

"My next plan will not fail," the Source hissed and flamed out. The Oracle just shook her head.

Back at the Manor the girls were saying goodbye to their guests. It wasn't midnight yet but the kids were getting tired. Silently, Prue led her sisters upstairs to get ready for bed.

"Thanks for not letting my girls get erased," Victor said as he and Leo gathered up the stray paper plates and napkins.

"You were as much a part of it as I was," Leo said with a smile.

"You know, for a whitelighter you're pretty handy to have around," Victor said with a smirk. Leo smiled as he disappeared in orbs. Victor tossed the plates into the garbage and headed upstairs to put his daughters to bed.

"I'm proud of you girls. You did very good tonight," he said, kissing Phoebe and Piper on the forehead. He turned to see Prue standing in the doorway.

"I'm proud of you too," he said, hugging her tightly.

"Happy New Years, girls," he said as the Grandfather clock began to chime midnight.


	15. Grim Sight

_Grim Sight_

The sun rose over the San Francisco skyline as the Halliwells began to stir. It was an early Sunday morning in mid-April and Prue was the first one up. She headed for the bathroom, shutting the door as softly as she could. She turned the water on, waiting for it to get hot before climbing into the shower. By the time she was done she could hear the TV on downstairs. Some ten minutes later she jumped off the last step, heading for the kitchen. Victor was seated at the table drinking coffee.

"Morning, Prue," he greeted with a smile.

"Morning, Dad," she replied. It was becoming easier and easier to call him Dad instead of Victor. That didn't mean that she completely trusted him. She grabbed a bowl of cereal and joined him. They contemplated their breakfasts until Victor finally broke the silence.

"Is something bothering you?" he asked, making the ten-year-old look up from her corn flakes.

"No," she answered. It wasn't something she wanted to talk to him about anyways. It was just gross to think about him knowing about her period.

"You sure? You can tell me, you know," he continued.

"No…I can't…you wouldn't understand," she retorted. He gave her a smirk.

"Try me," he said. Prue squirmed in her seat.

"It's almost….that time of the month," she muttered.

"Oh," Victor breathed, blushing. He'd forgotten he'd have to deal with this issue sometime with the girls.

"Can I get you anything?" he offered tentatively.

"Pads," she whispered. It was so soft he had to lean towards her to hear.

"Ok…um…we can stop by the drug store latter…unless you need them now," he proposed.

"Late is ok," she answered, standing up and rinsing out her bowl. Victor watched her head into the living room to join her sisters. He heaved a sigh of relief. It hadn't been so bad. At least she knew what it was. He hoped when the other two came to that stage, Prue could help them. Just then Phoebe came sprinting into the room.

"Daddy! Can we go to the park today? Please?" she begged, tugging on his sleeve.

"I don't see why not," he answered. She jumped up and down a few times before going to deliver the news to her siblings. Victor just smiled as he washed out his coffee cup.

In the living room Phoebe had wedged herself between her older sisters and was bouncing up and down happily.

"Phoebe, stop bouncing," Prue ordered.

"We're going to the park!" she squealed.

"Yeah…we heard already," Piper chimed in. Phoebe continued to bounce despite her sisters' griping. Finally Prue got fed up and sent Phoebe tumbling to the floor telekinetically.

"Daddy! Prue used her power on me," Phoebe wailed. Victor came running, looking quizzically at his three girls.

"She wouldn't stop bouncing after both Piper and I asked her to," Prue said in defense.

"Girls, we've talked about this. No using your powers on each other," Victor scolded.

"Prue's the only one who can," Piper muttered.

"Come on, we have some errands to run before we go to the park," he added. The girls got up and quietly followed him out the front door and climbed into the car. The drive to the drug store is quiet. Victor pulled into a parking spot and cut the engine. He looked at Prue nervously.

"Piper, stay here with your sister," he finally decided, addressing his middle daughter. Prue unbuckled her seat belt and followed her father into the store.

"How come Prue got to go in?" Phoebe pouted.

"I don't know…probably because she's oldest," Piper answered with a shrug. As they sat in the car she started to wish they had gone inside. The car was starting to get warm. In the store Victor was waiting for Prue to join him at the front of the store with her items. She finally returns, clutching the bag to her chest.

"Is that everything/" Victor questioned and Prue nodded.

He took the bag from her and got in line. Ten minutes later they were back in the car and on their way to the park. Victor pulls into a free parking spot and they all disembark. Phoebe runs immediately towards the jungle gym. Piper heads for the swings and Prue follows. Victor finds a bench where he can keep an eye on all three girls without encroaching upon them. On the swings, Piper and Prue began to pump their legs back and forth, trying to gain altitude.

"I wish I could fly," Piper sighed.

"Witches don't fly, Piper. Not real ones anyways," Prue replied with a shake of her head.

"How do you know? Do you know all the witches in the whole world?" Piper challenged.

"Well no…but I mean flying on a broom is just dumb," Prue replied.

"I guess," the eight-year-old responded. The sisters lapsed into silence as they continued to swing. Neither of them noticed the two figures in the trees nearby watching them. The grotesquely pale figures with dark red eyes gazed at the two girls with anticipation. They would serve their purpose well. The Grimlock on the right turned to his companion.

"Should we take both?" he asked, eying the girls.

"We only need one. Take that one," the second answered, pointing at Piper. They shared an evil sneer and stepped back into the foliage. Over on the jungle gym Phoebe was perched on the top of the structure. She was swinging her legs over the edge when she was suddenly hit with a premonition.

_She saw Prue racing towards the woods and a creature running from her. She saw Prue's mouth forming words but couldn't hear what they were saying. That was odd because all of her previous premonitions had sound._

As quickly as the vision came, it disappeared. She opened her eyes and had to clutch the metal structure around her to keep from falling. Once she had her bearings she climbed down and caught sight of Prue and Piper still on the swings. She debated whether she should inform her father or her sisters first of the vision. She decided to tell Victor.

"Daddy," Phoebe called out, sprinting towards him. He looked up as Phoebe came hurtling towards him.

"What is it, kiddo?" he asked.

"I had a vision," she whispered, climbing up onto the bench next to him.

"What happened?" he asked, pulling her close to try and minimize the projection of their voices.

"I saw Prue running after some thing into the woods over there. She was saying something but I couldn't hear it," the five-year-old answered, looking worried. Victor stood up; bring his youngest daughter with him. Across the park Piper jumped off the swing, landing gracefully on her feet. Just as she steadied herself a Frisbee went sailing into the woods. She turned to the boy who had thrown it.

"I'll get it," she offered, heading for the woods.

Prue leapt off her swing too, seeing Victor and Phoebe walking towards her.

"Good, you're ok," Victor breathed a sigh of relief.

"Why? Did something happen?" Prue asked, just as a scream rang out. The three Halliwells turned to see one of the Grimlocks dragging Piper deeper into the woods. Prue started running after Piper and the demon.

"Hey! Give my sister back," she shouted, squinting at the demon but it didn't do much. He only tripped for a split-second.

"Oh no…that thing got Piper," Phoebe whimpered.

"Come on, girls. We need to go find her," Victor said urgently, trying to head in the direction Piper had gone.

"No…Dad we can't. We don't know what it is and Leo says we should never go against something until we know what it is," Prue said, placing a hand on her father's arm.

"Prue…some thing just grabbed my daughter. I can't just sit here and do nothing," Victor retorted.

"We should go home and look at the Book," Prue muttered. She took Phoebe by the hand and started to head back to the car. She finally stopped and turned around to see Victor hadn't moved from the spot.

"Are you coming?" she called in annoyance. He nodded numbly and followed his daughters. Ten minutes and a narrowly avoided traffic ticket later they were in the attic pouring over the Book of Shadows. Prue slammed the book shut in frustration. She couldn't find anything about what had taken her sister. Just then the room was filled with orbs and Leo materialized.

"Where's Piper?" he asked.

"Missing…some thing…some demon took her," Victor answered harshly.

"What did the demon look like?" he asked the girls.

"I don't know…kind of ugly…really white," Prue answered.

"I only saw the back of its head," Phoebe added glumly.

"They didn't find anything in the book," Victor offered as calmly as he could.

"It could be Grimlocks," Leo suggested, opening the book and finding the page.

"They kidnap children to steal their eyesight. The eyesight lasts for twenty-four hours and allows the Grimlocks to strangle good people with their unique auras," he read aloud from the page.

"You're telling me that thing is going to turn my child blind?" Victor demanded.

"Well if we can find her before they hurt her, then no. But we need to be prepared. There is a vanquishing potion," Leo answered, his voice sounding less confident at the end.

"I sense a but coming," Victor grumbled.

"But…one of the ingredients must be gathered on a Wednesday of a waning moon. We have to wait until Wednesday to make the potion," he answered, not sounding pleased.

"She could be dead by then," Victor roared.

"They won't kill her. They never kill their victims. Piper is strong and she has the power to freeze. She can protect herself for now at least," Leo tried to reassure them all, including himself.

Down in the sewer system Piper sat up. She was in some kind of cage with a couple kids, mostly boys. The thing that took her didn't seem to be in sight. She scooted over to the boys.

"Are you ok?" she whispered to the boy closed to her.

"Whose there?" he asked. Piper caught sight of his face, his eyes were completely white. She cringed and backed away.

"What happened to you?" she finally managed to ask.

"It…it touched me and now…I can't see anything," he whispered, a tremor in his voice. Piper took a deep breath.

"I…I'll protect you," she promised, squeezing his hand.

Sunday slowly melted into Monday which slowly turned into Tuesday. Wednesday finally rolled around and everyone in the Halliwell household was growing anxious. Victor was going crazy. He had no idea if his daughter was going to be alright. Phoebe was scared and refused to sleep alone since Sunday. He was sitting at the kitchen table trying to focus on the sports page. Prue walked in and sat down.

"We'll find her," she said, knowing it was what her father needed to hear.

"I hope so," he breathed. Just then Leo appeared.

"I want to show you something," he said, addressing Prue. She got up and followed the whitelighter up to the attic. He had a map laid out on the table as well a crystal on a string.

"What is it?" Phoebe asked.

"We're going to scry for Piper,' he explained.

"What's that?" Prue asked.

"Well it is a way of finding someone. Your magic should be able to find hers," he explained.

"What do we do?" Phoebe inquired.

"Take the crystal in your hand and hold it over the map. It will swing around until it lands. Where it lands is where Piper is….I hope," he answered. Prue took the crystal and held it over the map. The crystal began to swing in a wide arc and slowly gained momentum. With a loud 'thunk' it landed on the map. Leo looked at the spot where it landed.

"She's in the sewer system," he breathed.

"Do we go now?" Phoebe begged.

"We have to make the potion first," Leo answered sadly. The afternoon dragged on but they finally were able to gather the necessary ingredients. Leo placed the ritual vessel on the center island in the kitchen and they boiled the Shisandra root. Leo siphoned it into a couple of vials.

"Ok, let's go make sure Piper is still in the same place she was earlier," he instructed the girls. They both sprinted up the stairs. Prue picked up the crystal and watched it spin. It landed on the red dot they'd used to mark her location earlier.

"She's still there. Let's go," Prue bellowed down the stairs. She jumped the last two steps in anxious anticipation.

Back in the sewer one of the Grimlocks was walking towards the cage. Piper felt a chill run up her spine as the door creaked open and he grabbed her by the arm.

"No! Let me go!" she protested, trying to freeze the foul thing. He just laughed at her as he slowly stole her sight. Just as the sight before her was replaced by darkness she managed to get her hand free and freeze the demon. She stumbled backwards in the haze, tripping over a pipe. Suddenly she heard the familiar sound of orbs and the voices of her sisters.

"Piper!" Phoebe shrieked, running to her older sister's side. Prue surveyed the frozen demons.

"Do I just throw the potion?" Prue asked and Leo nodded. She tossed a vial at each, causing them explode. The rest of the scene unfroze and Piper blinked, the sewer coming into full focus again.

"You did it!" she squealed, scrambling to her feet and hugging her sister. She turned to the two boys in the cage.

"I told you I'd protect you," she said proudly, helping them out of the cage.

Leo ushered the five children out into the sunlight. They all blinked a few times to let their eyes readjust to the light.

"Can we go home now?" Piper asked, holding Leo's hand as if ready to orb.

"We need to get these boys home first," he answered. She sighed but nodded. Leo quickly disappeared with the two boys, leaving the girls waiting for him to return.

"Were you scared?" Phoebe wanted to know.

"Yeah…but I knew you would find me…how did you find me?" Piper answered.

"We scried for you. Leo taught us," Prue replied just as Leo returned.

"Come on, let's get you home. You're Dad is going to get worried," he said, taking hold of the three girls. Upon arriving back at the Manor, Piper sprinted into Victor's arms.

"Thank God you're alright," he breathed, holding her as tightly as he could.

Leo just looked on as Piper and her father embraced. He'd tell them later that using something that the missing person cared for helped to find them too. Right now all they needed to know was that their bond as sisters and witches was enough.


	16. Fairie Wary

_Fairie Wary_

April melted into May and the girls were enjoying their summer, relatively demon-free. They hadn't encountered any more Grimlocks in the sewers. Presently, Piper and Prue were sitting in the sun room each with a book in hand. Prue let out a sigh and closed her book. It wasn't that she didn't like to read, it just got very boring very fast.

"I'm bored," Prue complained, causing her younger sibling to close her own book.

"Me too," Piper agreed. The wo girls stared at each other for a moment before getting up and wandering outside. Luckily the back yard was surrounded on three sides by tall bushes. Concentrating, Prue managed to send a stick flying with a mere flick of her hand. She couldn't help but smile at the progress she was making with controlling her power. Suddenly a light went off in her head and she turned to her sister.

"Want to try something?" she asked.

"Like what?" Piper asked. Prue beckoned her to the swing tied to tree in the corner.

"Get on and I'll push you," Prue instructed. Piper, who couldn't understand what this had to d with anything, dutifully climbed on. Prue took a step backed flicked her wrist, giving Piper a firm telekinetic shove. The eight-year-old was propelled forward, gripping the ropes on either side of her firmly as she swung backwards.

"Do it again!" she laughed and Prue obliged. The pair spent a good half hour outside, Prue strengthening her power and Piper enjoying the positive outcome.

Inside, Phoebe was in her room, carefully dressing her favorite baby doll in a new outfit. Suddenly she felt a presence behind her. Slowly she turned around but nothing was there. With a shrug she turned around to find her doll's shoes missing. She had just put the shoes on. How could they be gone? She stood up, looking around to see if she could find them but to no avail. Just as she sat back down, she noticed something flickering out of the corner of her eye. She stood and followed the source only to find a small creature hovering in the closet holding the doll shoes.

"Those are mine," Phoebe stated, trying to take them from the diminutive creature. The creature sighed bu handed them over. Phoebe backed away, picked up her doll and put the shoes back on.

"What are you?" Phoebe asked just as footsteps stopped outside her door. The door squeaked open and Piper walked in.

"Who are you talking to, Pheebs?" Piper asked.

"Can't you see it...in the closet?" the five-year-old replied. Piper went to stand by her sibling and indeed saw the small winged creature.

"What is it?" the older of the two asked.

"I don't know..." Phoebe murmured. Just then Victor's voice called up the stairs.

"Girls, come on. It's time for dinner," he shouted. Piper looked around the room and fund a jar that she and Phoebe kept their spare change in. She dumped the collection of coins onto her bed and made to catch the fairie.

"Freeze it," Phoebe giggled as it eluded Piper's reach. With one hand, Piper flicked her wrist and the winged creature was immobile. She hurriedly captured it in the jar and sealed the lid.

"We have to show Prue," Phoebe said, taking the jar from her sister's hands as they headed downstairs.

They found Victor and Prue in the dining room. Piper took the seat next to Victor and Phoebe plopped down across from Prue, proudly displaying the jar.

"Phoebe...what's that?" Prue asked, seeing the small thing struggling against the glass.

"It's just an empty jar," Victor commented.

"No...there's something in it," Piper retorted.

"I don't see anything, girls," he sighed.

"Maybe it's magical," Prue suggested. All three girls got up, starting to head for th stairs.

"Girls, come back here. You're going to eat dinner before you go off figuring out whatever that thing is," he said sternly. The girls traipsed back in and sat down again. Victor took the jar and started to loosen the lip.

"Daddy don't!" Piper exclaimed, her hands shooting out to stop him. Unintentionally she froze him.

"Oops," she muttered.

"Piper froze Daddy," Phoebe giggled.

Prue surveyed the situation and then grabbed the jar from her father's grasp. She motioned for her sisters to follow her.

"But Daddy said–" Phoebe began to protest.

"Daddy's frozen, Phoebe," Prue hissed as they rounded the landing and entered the attic. They set the jar on the table and began looking through the thick tome. Downstairs Leo appeared, noting that Victor was frozen. He didn't have a good feeling about this. Immediately he disappeared up to the attic.

"Girls, why is your Dad frozen?" he aked. They were seated around the book in such away that they blocked the jar from view.

"Cause I froze him," Piper answered.

"Why?" Leo pressed.

"He was going to open the jar," Piper answered. Just then leo saw he jar and the small creatue inside.

"How did you get a fairie?" he inquired.

"So that's what it is," Prue said, closing the book.

"How come you can see it and Daddy can't?" Phoebe asked.

"Well I am magical and your Dad isn't. Plus, he doesn't believe in fairies," Leo explained.

"Should we let it out?" Prue asked and Leo nodded. She unscrewed the top and the fairie flew out and heaved a large sigh of relief. She flitted down to Phoebe' eye level, squeaking at her. Phoebe's brow knit together as she tried to figure out what it was saying.

"I think it wants help," she said. Prue just rolled her eyes.

"How did it find us?" Piper wanted to know. It squeaked again and Phoebe turned to look at her sisters.

"It says because we're the Charmed Ones and we can help," she translated.

"Does it have a name?" Prue asked and once more the fairie squeaked.

"She says her name is Lily," Phoebe answered. Just then pounding footsteps came tearing upstairs.

"Piper, you know better than to freeze people," Victor scolded.

"But you were going to let her go. And I didn't mean to freeze you," Piper answered, giving an apologetic look.

"I also told you girls you could look at the thing after we ate," he continued, looking diappointed.

"That's my fault," Prue admitted, knowing she'd better own up to it.

"I'm very disappointed in you three. Now let's go downstairs and eat dinner," he ordered sternly. Glumly the girls filed out of the room.

"I just got here," Leo said, trying to make sure Victor didn't blame any of this on him.

"I see that," Victor grumbled. Just then Phoebe came running back in.

"Don't go anywhere," she told the fairie.

"I'll keep an eye on her while you eat," Leo promised and watched Victor usher his youngest daughter downstairs.

Dinner passed quietly and the girls got up and brought their dishes into the kitchen. Prue turned on the hot water and wordlessly began to wash the dishes. Piper grabbed a towel and stood next to her, accepting the clean dishes.

"Here, Pheebs. But this away," Piper instructed the five-year-old. Victor just watched from the door as his daughters did the dishes. He hadn't asked them to do it. He figured Prue had known enough that he would have made them do it as punishment anyways. When all the dishes were done and put away, they turned to see their father.

"No can we go?" Piper asked.

"Yes. Go on," he said. They took off at lightning speed, their loud footsteps reverberating in the old house. Leo stood up when the girls came in.

"Where did Lily go?" Phoebe asked, looking around frantically for the fairie.

"She's still here, don't worry. She told me why she needs your help," Leo answered, squeezing Phoebe's hand.

"Why?" Piper asked.

"There is a group of trolls trying to capture her and her family," he relayed

"How can we help? And what does a troll look like anyways?" Prue asked, sounding a little skeptical. She was getting a little old for all this fairytale junk.

Leo summoned the Book to him and opened it to a marked page. The girls gathered around him and browsed the page on troll. Piper wrinkled her nose.

"They look ugly." she commented.

"Are they evil?" Phoebe asked.

"Well they're not really evil, just...unpleasant," Leo answered. Phoebe nodded in understanding and smiled as Lily reappeared.

"So how do we stop these trolls?" Prue sked. Leo began to answer when all of a sudden a large, ugly creature appeared in the attic. Piper and Phoebe scrambled to their feet and stared at the creature.

"I'm guessing...that's a troll," Prue murmured.

"Yes...that would be a troll," he answered.

"Where the fairie?" the troll roared. It was more of half-intelligible grunt.

"You can't take her," Phoebe cried out. The troll snarled at her and took a step towards her.

"Leave my sister alone," Piper shouted, trying to freeze him. It worked.

"Does the bok say how to get rid of it?" Prue asked, turning to the book.

"Does it?" Piper prodded, trying to read over her sister's shoulder.

"No..." she answered.

"You're going to have to think of a spell on your own," Leo said, knowing it was probably a bigger task than they were ready for.

"How?" Piper asked, her voice trembling.

"It just has to rhyme," he explained.

"Uh...ok," Prue muttered. Phoebe squeezed Prue's hand, half out of fear and half in preparation for the spell.

"I can't think of anything," Prue gasped, starting to panic. The troll was going to unfreeze any minute.

"Try hitting it with something," Piper suggested, clutching Phoebe's free hand. Prue's eyes scanned the room until they landed on a piece of wood. It was worth a sho. She waved her hand at it and it went flying, striking the troll in the stomach. He unfroze, looking down at the wood impaling him.

"Arr," he groaned as he disappeared, leaving a pool of green goo on the floor.

"Yuck, that's so gross," Phoebe complained, the smell spreading throughout the attic. Just then Victor appeared.

"What happened up here? And what is that smell?" he asked, fanning the air in front of him to try and breathe.

"Troll goo," Prue informed him.

"Troll goo? What...what..." he babbled.

"The girls had to vanquish it to protect the fairie they found," Leo informed him.

"Well...is the attic going to smell like this for long?" Victor gasped. The smell was quite rancid.

"The girls could just use the vanishing spell to get rid of the good and the smell," Leo suggested. Prue grabbed the book and found the spell.

"Let the object of objection become but a dream as I cause the sen to be unseen," they read in unison. Their unison reading skills had improved since they'd first come into their powers. Before their eyes the good disappeared and the smell dissipated.

"So...is the fairie gone? Is everything over for today?" Victor asked, suddenly sounding tired.

Phoebe turned to see Lily giving them all a wave. She squeaked something to the five-year-old.

"She says bye and thank you," Phoebe translated. The other two girls waved goodbye and she disappeared. Without a word, Victor headed back downstairs.

"You girls did very well today," Leo commended.

"Will we have to do that again...help magical creatures?" Piper asked.

"Sometimes. You're very powerful witches and creatures on both the side of Good and Evil know that," he said somewhat somberly. At least no one had gone after the girls themselves this time. He looked up, annoyance etched on his face.

"I have to go. I'm very proud of you girls," he said before disappearing in orbs.

"How come Phoebe was the only one hat could talk to Lily?" Piper asked as sometime later as she and Prue at on Piper's bed.

"Maybe because she's the youngest and still believes the most," Prue muttered.

"Yeah...maybe," Piper agreed.'

"I hope nothing needs our help for a while. I'd rather be bored than clean up bad guy goo," Prue giggled.

"Me too," Piper agreed again.


	17. Party Crashers

_Party Crashers_

Time had flown by and August was upon the family. Excitement was potent and in the air as they prepared for Piper's ninth birthday. Oddly enough, the individual most excited for the party was not the birthday girl, but Victor. He hadn't spent a birthday with any of his girls in two years and he was looking forward to being a part of it again. Presently Piper sprinted into the kitchen.

"Daddy, make sure we have lots of balloons, ok?" she called to him.

"Balloons, got it," he said, adding it to his list.

"Oh and can we get streamers too?" she asked, tugging on his sleeve.

"Ok, streamers too," he sighed. This list just kept growing. Piper was about to open her mouth to spout off more party decorations when he stopped her.

"I think we have enough, sweetheart," he interrupted her.

"Ok," she sighed.

"Prue! Phoebe! Come on, we're going to the store," he shouted into the sun room. Two pair of footsteps resounded on the wood floor and Prue and Phoebe appeared in the kitchen. Together the family of four headed for the car. Once they arrived at the store he turned to the girls, dispensing their marching orders.

"Prue, you're in charge of plates, napkins and forks. Phoebe you need to get cups and hats. Piper, you come with me for balloons and streamers, he said, tearing the list in half. He gave the top portion to Prue. Prue took Phoebe by the hand and headed in the direction of utensils and paper plates. Victor and Piper headed down another aisle.

"How many hats do we need?" Phoebe asked, staring at the array of pointed party hats. Prue looked at her half of the list. It read twenty hats.

"Twenty," Prue answered. Phoebe pulled down a package, staring at it. She slowly began to count the hat.

"This has seven," she informed her older sister. Prue stood there for a moment, doing the math in her head.

"We need two more packages," she told the five-year-old.

Phoebe grabbed two more, counting them.

"But that's twenty-one," she murmured.

"That's ok. Come on, we have to get more stuff," Prue said, dragging her sibling along.

Down another aisle, Piper and Victor were grabbing packages of balloons. They had already filled the basket with six bags of streamers. Piper reached for another but Victor stopped her.

"We have enough streamers," he told her. She gave him puppy dog eyes but to no avail.

"Let's go find your sisters," he said, heading towards the aisle where Prue and Phoebe had first gone down. They caught up with Prue and Phoebe just as they were heading for the front of the store.

"Geez, have enough streamers?" Prue snorted.

"I like them," Piper snapped. Prue stifled a laugh as she tossed what they had accumulated into Victor's basket. They got in line and Victor paid for the mountain of supplies.

"Can we put them up when we get home?" Piper asked, sounding hopeful.

"No, honey. The party isn't until tomorrow. We'll put them up tomorrow," Victor answered. Piper let out another sigh but didn't ask again. She helped carry the bag in and set them on the dining room table.

"Why don't you girls go ride your bikes for a while? It's a really nice day," Victor suggested. All three girls' eyes lit up as they sprinted to find helmets and protective padding. Prue was helping Phoebe with her helmet when Andy came pedaling down the sidewalk.

"Hi Prue," he greeted.

"Hi Andy. Want to ride with us?" she replied.

"Ok, sure. Want to go down to the lot so we have more room?" he suggested and Prue nodded.

"But Prue...Daddy said we have to stay close," Phoebe reminded her oldest sister.

"It's ok, Pheebs. Come on," Prue retorted. The foursome headed down the sidewalk a little ways until they came to a small abandoned lot. Andy began riding around in tight circles finally taking his hands off the handle bars.

"Watch this," he said, veering the bike in the opposite direction quickly. The front wheel swerved and he began to topple towards the ground. Prue stopped her bike and squinted, righting him before he fell. Not noticing he extra push he placed his hands back on the bike and stopped, smiling broadly.

"Cool," Prue remarked. She fixed her sisters with a glare, saying 'don't say anything'. They continued riding around the lot, amusing each other with tricks until the sun began to set.

"I have to get home. My mom said I could only stay out until it got dark," Andy said, sounding disappointed.

"We should go home too," Prue agreed, ushering her sisters back to the sidewalk. They rode single file back up to their houses.

Little did they know what had happened in the Manor while they were gone. Victor had watched them head off down the street with Andy. He knew they would be alright going a little farther down the street. Just as he turned his back to the window he felt something hot hit his arm. He looked down to see a scorch mark and seared flesh. He looked up to see a dirty looking man standing in front of him

"You're coming with me," he sneered, grabbing Victor and disappearing. They reappeared in the Underworld in a dank cave. Victor managed to get free and backed away.

"Who are you?" he asked as confidently as he could.

"I'm you," he replied, shape shifting into Victor. Victor suddenly realized what was going on.

"Leo!" he roared.

"He can't hear you down here. So scream all you want. It won't do you any good," the demon snickered in Victor's own voice.

"Have a nice life," he added before shimmering out. He reappeared just as the front door opened and the girls walked in, unbuckling helmets and padding.

"We're home," Prue announced, catching the imposter off guard.

"Oh...good," he replied, giving them a smile.

Prue just looked at him strangely but headed upstairs. The rest of the evening passed by uneventfully. The Imposter Victor managed to not raise suspicion. He was just walking out of Piper and Phoebe's room when he ran into Leo.

"Where'd you come from?" he gasped, his hand instinctually trying to form a fire ball

I just wanted to make sure you had everything under control for Piper's party tomorrow," Leo answered, noting Victor's odd behavior.

"Oh...everything is fine," the imposter answered. He hadn't known one of them was having a party. But that would provide the perfect distraction. He would prove to the Source that he could do the job.

"Well I'll see you tomorrow afternoon," Leo said, disappearing in orbs. The imposter heaved a sigh of relief. He looked around and headed for the attic. He pushed the door open and looked in. There appeared to be no preset traps or obstacles. With a cocky smirk he strode up to the book, reaching out for it. Before he could touch it, it sent him flying back with a shot of electricity.

"Damn," he cursed, rubbing his now sore hand. He would have to find a way to get past the book's defenses. He should have expected it to have some sense for evil. He stared at the book for a minute longer before deciding he would take his chances in the morning.

The following morning dawned and Piper was the first one up. She was sitting at the kitchen table, eating a bowl of cereal. She kept eying the party supplies under the table in the next room. She was soon joined by Prue.

"Happy Birthday, Piper," she greeted, giving her younger sibling a big hug.

"Thanks," Piper replied, sounding a little sad.

"What's wrong?" Prue asked, noticing her sister's sudden change in demeanor.

"I just miss Grams. It's kind of sad that she won't be here to share birthdays and Christmas anymore," the almost nine-year-old sighed.

"I know. It's like after Mom died," Prue murmured. Piper nodded and they fell into silence.

"Piper!" Phoebe screamed, running into the room as her older sisters were rinsing their dishes. The five-year-old wrapped her arms around Piper's waist, trying to unsuccessfully lift her up.

"Hi, Phoebe. Thanks for the birthday hug," Piper said, returning the gesture.

"Where's Daddy?" the youngest Halliwell asked, noticing their father was nowhere to be seen.

'Probably still sleeping," Prue muttered with a shrug.

"Want to start putting up decorations?" Piper asked, eagerness in her voice.

"Don't you think we should wait a little while?" Prue asked.

"Nope," Piper answered with a giggle. Prue just let out a sigh and started opening plates and utensils. She laid them out neatly on the dining room table while Phoebe tried to hang a streamer.

"I can't reach," she whined. As if on cue, Leo appeared.

"Decorating already?" he asked.

"Can you help me? I can't reach," Phoebe murmured. Leo nodded and picked her up around the middle. He lifted her up and she taped the streamer to the ceiling. Half an hour later the entire first floor of the Manor had been covered in balloons and multi-colored streamers.

"We should get Daddy up. People will be here soon," Piper said, rushing upstairs.

"I think she's excited," Leo laughed.

"She loves her birthday," Phoebe informed him. Upstairs Piper knocked on her father's door. It was pulled open by the imposter.

"Come on, Daddy. People will be here soon," she said, starting to drag him downstairs.

"I'm coming," the imposter said, having fight off the disgusted feeling of cheeriness and kindness.

"The house looks...great," he commented once they were back downstairs. Before anyone could say a word, the doorbell rang. Piper sprinted and pulled open the door.

An hour later the party was well underway. Leo was helping to supervise as the imposter Victor stood by. He was hoping for a break that he could sneak upstairs and try to snatch the book again. Luckily he didn't have to wait long. The kids were swarming around the cake, Leo cutting. It gave the demon time to slip away unnoticed. Up in the attic he was approaching the book. He concentrated, willing it to believe he was Victor. He reached out his hand and the book didn't send him flying this time. He managed to pick it up. He turned to start walking out of the attic when he way was barred by a robed figure.

"My Lord," he breathed, bending down in the Source's presence.

"You have taken the Book. Perhaps you are not as worthless as I had previously thought," the Source simpered.

"Thank you, my liege," the demon whispered.

"Now…give me the Book," the Source demanded. The shape shifter willingly handed it over. Or at least he tried to. It sent him flying backwards. The shape shifter gulped, knowing this wouldn't end well. Downstairs, Phoebe was eating her piece of cake when she was hit by a premonition.

She saw Victor in the Underworld, his arm badly wounded. It jumped to the shape shifter in the attic, stealing the book. She saw the Source appear and demand the Book be given to him.

Her eyes shot open and she nearly dropped her cake. She managed to catch it and set it on the table before going in search of Prue. She found her oldest sister in the kitchen.

"I had a vision. Daddy is hurt. And he isn't really Daddy. He tried to steal the book," Phoebe rambled.

'Slow down, Pheebs," Prue whispered, catching Piper out of the corner of her eye. She mouthed the word 'freeze' to the birthday girl. Piper just nodded and the room froze.

"What is it?" Piper asked, running into the room.

"Phoebe just had a premonition of some demon pretending to be Dad trying to steal the Book of Shadows," Prue informed her younger sister.

"So…that's not Daddy?" Piper asked and Prue shook her head.

"Come on, we have to save Daddy," Phoebe urged, heading for the attic. Prue started to follow but stopped when she realized Piper wasn't coming.

"Come on, Piper. What's wrong?" she asked.

"I think I should unfreeze Leo," she murmured. Prue just rolled her eyes but shooed her to do it. Piper unfroze Leo and filled him in on the way up the stairs. The Source was still lying on the ground when the attic door creaked open. He flamed out just in time to avoid being seen. The Victor imposter looked up.

"Oh, thank goodness you girls came. I thought a demon was trying to steal the book," he lied.

"You're not Dad," Prue spat, sending him head over heels crashing into a chest. Realizing something must have happened to tip them off he shape shifted back into his real self.

"Smart little witch," he snapped, fire ball forming in his right hand.

"Where is my Dad?" Piper demanded, not happy at all that her party had been interrupted.

"Now why would I go and tell you a thing like that?" he sneered.

"Because if you don't we'll vanquish you," Prue threatened.

"But if you vanquish me then you'll never find where I hid your Daddy," he taunted. Getting fed up, Piper flicked her hands at him, freezing him. Thinking, she unfroze his head.

"My sister can vanquish you. Now tell us where he is," the nine-year-old hissed.

"Ok, ok. I'll make a deal with you. Let me go and I'll take you to your Daddy," he pleaded. They may just be children but he knew the Warren line was powerful.

"We are supposed to make deals with demons. You're evil," Prue snapped. She flicked her wrist, moving the frozen fire ball even with his chest.

"He's in the Underworld. Please…just let me go," he begged. The girls turned their backs, huddling together.

"What do we do?" Piper asked in a whisper. Leo had been watching the entire exchange quietly.

"I have an idea," he muttered so only they could hear him. Three pair of eyes were now upon him.

"I'll follow him down and bring your Dad back," he suggested.

"But what if he hurts you?" Piper asked.

"He won't. I promise," he assured her. The here girls looked at each other and nodded. Piper turned and unfroze him. They watched slowly as he reached out and took the fire ball, extinguishing it.

"Let's go," Leo said authoritatively. The shape shifter gulped but shimmered out, Leo following behind in orbs. Down in the Underworld they reappeared, finding Victor huddled in the corner.

"Leo?" Victor rasped, his voice hoarse.

"Let's get you out of here," Leo said, helping Victor to his feet. Leo turned to look at the shape shifter as he and Victor disappeared. He set Victor on hiss feet in the attic, quickly healing the man's arm.

"Daddy!" Piper squealed, rushing towards him and hugging him tightly. She was soon joined by her sisters.

"Thank God you are safe. I was so worried about you," he breathed.

"Let's go downstairs. It's almost time to open presents," Piper said, remembering all of the frozen guests downstairs. Victor scooped Piper up and swung her around a few times.

"Happy Birthday Piper," he said, kissing her cheek as he put her back down and followed her out of the attic.

A few hours later the Halliwells were busy cleaning up party debris. Victor was following Prue and Phoebe around with a garbage bag. Piper was sitting in the sun room, organizing her presents. She looked up as Leo sat down next to her.

"Happy Birthday, Piper," he whispered, handing her a small box.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Open it," he instructed. She pulled the paper off and undid the top of the small box. In it sat a small silver locket in the shape of a triquetra.

"It's beautiful," she gasped, pulling it out and slipping it around her neck. She wrapped her arms around him, squeezing him hard. He returned the gesture, holding on just a second longer. She pulled away and placed a swift kiss on his cheek.


	18. Power of Third Eye

_Power of Third Eye_

Summer was finally over and the girls were heading back to school. It was the night before the first day and the girls were abuzz with anticipation. Like a lot of things that happened lately, it was their first start of school without Grams. Phoebe sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the clothes she'd picked out.

"Piper…I miss Grams," she whispered. Piper looked up from the drawer she was rummaging through.

"I know, Phoebe. We all do. But it will be ok," Piper tried to reassure her younger sister.

"I wish she could still be here…and Mommy too," the five-year-old sighed. Piper joined her on the bed, wrapping her arms around her.

"Well they are…sort of. Remember, Grams said people we love are always watching us from heaven," Piper murmured.

"You really think they're in heaven?" Phoebe wondered.

"Of course they are," Piper retorted. Just then Prue walked in.

"You guys excited about school?" she asked, joining them on the bed.

"Yeah, but Phoebe misses Grams and Mom," Piper answered. Prue nods and thinks for a minute before jumping to her feet.

"I think I saw something in the Book the other day that might help us. Come on," she said, beckoning her sisters to follow her. In curiosity, the younger two oblige, heading to the attic. Prue flips through the pages until she found the spell to summon a spirit.

"I found it," she announced, noting that they would need five candles. She wondered where they would find candles.

"We have to find special candles. Look in some of these boxes and stuff," she ordered. The girls fanned out, trying to find candles. Suddenly one of the chests unlocked and Prue lifted it, finding a collection of candles.

"I got them," she said, loading her arms full. She carefully put them at what she thought were the five points of a pentagram. She picked up the book and sat down on the floor. Piper and Phoebe joined her, reading the spell together.

"Here these words, here my cry spirit from the other side. Come to me I summon thee. Cross now the great divide," the read. A slight breeze surrounded them but nothing else happened.

"I think we have to light the candles," Piper said. Prue blushed in embarrassment. She stood, looking for a lighter. She finally found a book of matches. She carefully struck a match and slowly lit the candles. They repeated the spell and the same wind blew round them but again nothing happened.

"Did we miss something else?" Prue muttered more to herself, checking the page again. They hadn't.

"Why didn't it work?" Phoebe inquired, sounding very disappointed.

"I don't know. It should have worked," Prue mumbled, clearly confused. The other spells they had used from the book had worked. Why hadn't this one? Feeling slightly defeated, they put the Book and candles back and headed downstairs to get ready for bed.

Far below them in the Underworld, a warlock appeared, looking around at the dank surroundings. He had to admit that he didn't think the past would be this dank. Before he could take a step he was surrounded on all sides by demons.

"Going somewhere?" one of them taunted.

"I mean you no harm, gentlemen," the warlock responded.

"Sure you don't, warlock. Get out of here before we vanquish your sorry ass," another demon sneered. The warlock let out a laugh and shot a blue laser from the third eye in the middle of his forehead, vanquishing the demon instantly. He turned back to the others who had now started to back away.

"I am here to offer the Source some aide," he explained coolly.

"The Source doesn't work with Warlocks," a third demon snarled.

"Well I suppose that ought to change. If he wants to defeat the Charmed Ones," Gavin remarked. The group dispersed, whispering among themselves. It finally broke up and one of the demons shimmered out. He reappeared a few minutes later with the Source in toe.

"Who are you?" the Source demanded.

"My name is Gavin and I have come from the future to help you defeat the Charmed Ones," Gavin answered.

"A warlock? Why should I trust you?" the Source bellowed.

"Because if you don't, you will fail," Gavin hissed.

"If I may speak openly. You see…we're not so different you and I, demons and warlocks. We all have the same goal, take down good magic," Gavin continued.

"How do you plan on taking them down? No demon or warlock has managed to succeed. Their powers grow stronger by the day," the Source demanded.

"I told you, I am from the future. My powers are beyond their knowledge. I will take them by surprise. You will not be disappointed," Gavin promised.

"If you fail, I will find a way to bring you back from the wasteland and vanquish you myself," the Source threatened. Gavin merely nodded, disappearing.

The following morning, all three Halliwell girls were up early. Victor only awoke when he heard footsteps pounding down the stairs. He dragged himself out of bed and followed the noise. He found the girls noisily pouring cereal into bowls.

"You girls must be really excited," he said, yawning. Since he was up he decided he might as well put on a pot of coffee. The family of four enjoyed a relatively calm breakfast. They would all still ride the same bus this year. Next year Prue would join the seventh through twelfth graders on the junior-senior high school bus.

"Now I hope you girls have everything you need for today," he stated as he washed the breakfast dishes.

"We do," Prue assured him, helping Phoebe with her backpack. Just then Leo orbed in. Piper gave him a smile, the locket he'd given her for her birthday dangling from her neck.

"Good, I caught you before you left," he said, sounding oddly out of breath.

"You alright there, Leo?" Victor asked.

"Yeah…I just talked with my bosses. They sensed a new evil and thought I should tell the girls," he answered.

"What does this new evil do? What does it look like? Did they have any of that kind of information?" Victor pressed.

"No. Just…be careful today girls. Keep a look out for anything that looks out of place," Leo replied, turning to look at the girls.

Prue was about to open her mouth to ask Leo a question about the spell they'd done last night but the bus honked. She waved goodbye as and her sisters boarded the bus. Piper and Phoebe shared a seat and Andy ended up next to Prue.

"Are you excited?" Andy asked.

"Yeah. Are you?" she answered.

"I hear sixth grade is really hard," Andy commented.

"You said that last year about fifth grade," Prue teased.

"Piper…is first grade hard?" Phoebe asked of her older sibling.

"It's sort of hard I guess. You have to do math and spelling," Piper answered. Phoebe cringed at the mention of math. From what she'd gathered, math was evil. Shortly the bus dropped them off at the elementary school and the girls headed their own ways. Piper made sure Phoebe got to her new classroom before heading to her own. The first day was never hard. It was just getting to know everyone and the teacher. Recess finally arrived and Phoebe was ecstatic to see both her sisters on the playground. She ran up to them.

"We have recess the same now!" she squealed.

"Calm down, Pheebs. It's not that exciting," Prue remarked.

"Why don't you go play with your friends," she suggested.

"I want to hang with you guys," Phoebe whined.

"Phoebe…it's kind of not cool to hang out with first graders at recess," Piper informed her younger sister. She didn't mean to sound as mean as she had.

"Fine," she said, running off.

"She's going to go cry isn't she," Piper groaned.

"Let her. She's almost six. She shouldn't have to go cry like a baby every time we tell her to leave us alone," Prue muttered. Piper just nodded her head.

Phoebe headed for the far set of swings. She jumped onto one, kicking her legs as hard as she could. She kept telling herself that she was too old to cry about such stupid things. It actually worked. She didn't notice the looming figure behind her. Gavin watched the child swinging back and forth. He would have to get in front of her for his power to work correctly. He started to move when a thought struck him. As Phoebe arched upwards away from him, he sent a beam flying at it. It just barely missed her. It was enough to scare her. She jumped off the swing and turned around. She saw the warlock walking towards her, with all three of his eyes locked on her. She wanted to scream but she found her voice wasn't working. So she just started running. She found Prue and Piper again.

"Phoebe, what's wrong?" Piper asked, seeing how freaked out Phoebe was.

"There…is a guy with three eyes chasing me," Phoebe answered. Prue looked up to see Gavin walking towards them.

"I'm guessing that is the evil Leo's bosses were talking about," she muttered. They had to get him away from the rest of the kids.

"Follow me, I have an idea," she whispered. She and her sisters headed for the other side of the playground, towards a secluded clump of trees. Intrigued, Gavin followed.

"What are you thinking?" Piper asked.

"When he gets close, freeze him," Prue answered.

"Then what?" Phoebe inquired.

"I don't know yet," she admitted.

"You girls are making this too easy," Gavin snickered as he closed the distance. Just as Piper raised her hands, Gavin sent a laser beam at her. She managed to freeze hi and the beam just in time.

"That was close," she sighed.

"So we have a guy who shoots a laser from his head," Prue muttered mostly to herself.

"I wish we had the Book of Shadows," Piper groaned. Prue looked at the warlock in front of them. She wondered whether Piper had enough control of her power to unfreeze just the laser.

"Piper…do you think you can unfreeze just the laser beam? I want to try something," Prue explained.

"Maybe…I can try," Piper answered. She flicked her wrist and the laser came shooting at them. Phoebe ducked and Piper moved to the side. Prue stuck her hand out, deflecting it straight back at Gavin. Just as the beam hit him, he unfroze. He cried out in agony as his third eye blistered. He slowly began to burst into flame and left only a small burnt patch in the grass.

"Good plan," Piper said, a little out of breath.

"Thanks. But it was mostly you. And Phoebe for letting us know. You didn't look scared at all, Pheebs," Prue praised her sisters.

"I was. I thought it was going to kill me…" Phoebe admitted, standing up and dusting herself off.

"Come on, let's get back so we don't miss class," Prue instructed. The trio headed back onto the playground, going their separate ways. The rest of the day passed uneventfully and the girls climbed back on the bus. Victor had told them to take it the first day just so they could find it if he couldn't pick them up in the future.

"I have a lot of homework," Phoebe griped.

"Phoebe it is one worksheet. I have to read a chapter in a book," Prue retorted.

"I didn't have homework in kindergarten," Phoebe reminded her oldest sibling.

"We know," Prue and Piper answered just as the bus pulled up to the Manor. They climbed off and headed up the front steps. Just as Prue went to open it, Victor pulled it open.

"Hey girls," he greeted, receiving a hug from Phoebe. He ushered them in and they headed for the kitchen.

"So do you have a lot of homework?" he asked.

"Lots," they answered in unison. He smiled at them. He figured he'd be hearing that response a lot in the coming weeks.

"Anything interesting happen today?" he inquired.

"We vanquished the evil," Prue said offhandedly as she pulled out her book and sat down to read.


	19. Woogey Nights

_Woogey Nights_

The first two months of school had passed by quickly and so had Prue's eleventh birthday. Her party had been smaller than Piper's and had gone without demonic interruption. All three girls were finding the school work considerably more difficult than the previous year. Piper was sitting at the kitchen table, staring at her reading homework. Her eyes scanned the passage but nothing absorbed into her brain.

"This is stupid," she groaned.

"What is?" Prue asked, coming in from the sun room.

"This dumb reading," the nine-year-old answered with a huff. Prue walked over and picked it up.

"Oh I hate these. They're so boring and pointless," Prue agreed. Just then Victor appeared, carrying a large box filled with miscellaneous objects.

"What's all that stuff?" Prue asked.

"Oh just some stuff from the attic. I'm trying to clean it out. He set box down on the center island and Prue peered inside. It had a lot of candles and ritual bowls.

"You can't get rid of this stuff," she protested.

"Why not? It's just junk," Victor replied.

"It's not junk. It's magic stuff. We need all this," she explained. Victor raised an eyebrow at his daughter.

"You need all of it?" he asked. By now Piper had joined them and was looking at the contents.

"We need it all," she agreed with her older sibling. Victor finally conceded, letting them take the box back upstairs. They saw that their father started cleaning, trying to organize things. All he'd really done was made the attic a bigger mess than it normally was. Prue looked at the stuff in the box and around the room.

"We should organize," she announced.

"Ok. Where do we start?" Piper asked, starting to pull out the candles and bowls.

"We can put all the ritual stuff on this shelf. Candles right there and the bowls and stuff over there," Prue began, pointing to the top shelf on the far left all. Piper began methodically organizing the objects until she was satisfied with their placement. Meanwhile, Prue was digging through another of Grams' old trunks. She found some more ritual accoutrements. She sent them Piper's way and finally found the scrying crystals and maps just lying around on the table. She carefully folded the maps up, trying to label what each one was so they could find them easily if they ever needed them again. Neither of them noticed that Phoebe had come upstairs.

"What are you guys doing?" she asked.

"We're organizing all the magic stuff in here. Dad was going to throw stuff out," Prue answered.

"Can I help?" she asked.

"Sure. Look in that box over there and see what you find," Prue instructed. Phoebe complied, finding some more scrying crystals as well some knives.

"I'll take the crystals," Prue said and Phoebe handed them over. She turned to Piper.

"I guess I'll put the knives over here too," she said and took them carefully. By the time Victor got back upstairs the girls had managed to organize all of the magical paraphernalia in the room. There were however some toys strewn around the room.

"You girls work fast. I'm impressed," Victor commented.

"And we didn't even use magic," Phoebe said with a smirk.

"Well…only a little," Prue muttered.

"How about you clean up the toys and we go out for dinner," he suggested. The girls nodded and grabbed the various toys, bringing them downstairs and putting them in their rooms where they belonged. Five minutes later they were heading out for pizza.

The pizza parlor was crowded and loud. But that was the atmosphere of the place and it was welcomed. The girls got a chance to see some of their school friends with the relative confidence that there wouldn't be any demon attacks.

"Are you almost done?" he asked an hour later. Prue and Piper nodded. Phoebe was still eating her last piece. He threw some cash on the table and they headed out, Phoebe having to grab a napkin to take the slice with her.

"Thanks for coming. Have a nice night," the cashier closest to the door called after them. Victor waved in thanks and they headed home. Just as they pulled up to the last light before Prescott Street a news bulletin crackled on the radio.

"An earthquake warning is now in effect. Everyone please be advised to stay inside in a sheltered area," the newscaster reported.

"I don't like earthquakes," Phoebe whimpered.

"We'll be ok, Pheebs. Nothing is going to happen," Victor promised, pressing down on the gas as the light changed to green. Moments later they were in the house and Phoebe had calmed down a little bit. Victor turned the TV on to a news channel with the volume set to low so he could keep up to date with the conditions. The sisters pulled out shoots and ladders, setting it up in the living room.

"Do you want to play?" Piper addressed their father.

"No that's ok. You girls play," he said, hoping it would keep their minds off the impending natural disaster.

It managed to distract them for a little while, at least until the first tremor rolled through. The light fixture in the dining room rattled loudly as did some of the pictures on the staircase. Phoebe quivered in fear, diving into Victor's lap for protection.

"It's over, Phoebe. It's ok. See we're all ok," he murmured, stroking her hair gently.

Phoebe calmed down a little when there were no more tremors. She seemed satisfied that everything would be ok. Nothing bad had happened. The roof didn't fall in and nothing had come crashing down. However, none of them knew of the large crack in the basement floor, emitting a foul odor. The girls continued their game until another tremor rolled through. Phoebe dove into Victor's lap again, this time staying there even after the shaking had subsided.

"Do you smell something funny?" Prue asked after a while.

"It smells like gas," Piper added. Victor sniffed the air. Yeah, he smelled it.

"Stay here girls. I'll go see what it is," Victor said, setting Phoebe done on the couch. He stood and headed in the direction of the kitchen. Prue and Piper just shrugged, assuming he'd fix the problem. But Phoebe, still scared that there would be another tremor and Victor would not be there, went running after him.

"Daddy wait!" she cried, rushing into the kitchen. She stopped at the top of the stairs leading down into the basement. She didn't like the basement. It always gave her the creeps. Slowly she made her way down.

"Daddy?" she called out. Victor was standing petrified at the bottom of the stairs. A large shadow was hovering before him. Phoebe's eyes bulged out at the sight.

"Phoebe," the shadow beckoned. She tried to run but the shadow was pulling her closer.

"No!" she cried out. With one swift move the shadow had knocked Victor unconscious and was advancing on the five-year-old.

"Please, no," she begged.

"You will fight me at first but you cannot win," it chuckled, consuming her. Her body shuddered violently as the Woogey took over. Her eyes flashed black for an instant before she ran back upstairs to find her sisters.

"Where's Dad?" Prue asked, seeing Phoebe return but not Victor.

"Um…still fixing the stuff," Phoebe answered. Prue raised an eyebrow ignored her sister's odd behavior. Luckily for Victor, Leo happened to drop in. The whitelighter shook Victor until he woke up.

"What…what happened?" Victor rambled, sitting up slowly.

"I don't know. I think you got knocked out," Leo answered, helping him up. It suddenly registered with Victor.

"There…was some shadow thing…I think it has Phoebe," Victor gasped. The two men headed upstairs to find the girls playing the board game.

"Phoebe, are you ok sweetie?" Victor asked, sitting down next to his youngest daughter.

"I'm fine," she answered, flashing him a smile.

"You sure?" he pressed.

"Yes," she replied, her voice growing agitated. He backed off.

The night continued on, the tremors lessening until they had finally stopped. Leo and Victor were keeping a close eye on Phoebe. They both sensed something wasn't right. Phoebe got up, heading in the direction of the kitchen. She rooted around in the fridge, finding the milk. She poured herself a glass, spilling quite a bit on the floor. The next thing she knew she was holding a cookie in her hand. It had just appeared.

"Where'd you get the cookie?" Piper asked, having seen it appear out of nowhere.

"I…I don't know. I thought about how much I wanted a cookie and I have a cookie," Phoebe answered, going back into the other room.

"Leo, I think Phoebe has a new power," Piper informed the whitelighter.

"A new power? What do you mean?" Leo asked, suspicion in his tone.

"Go on and tell him," she said, nudging Phoebe. She rolled her eyes.

"I wanted a cookie and it just appeared. It's not that big a deal," she sighed.

"That seems a little odd. You're powers are supposed to grow, not just spontaneously emerge. And that type of power…" Leo began.

"It's my power," Phoebe growled.

"And that type of power is usually associated with bad magic," Leo finished.

"You're just jealous," Phoebe snapped, getting up and walking out of the room. Leo looked at Victor and sighed.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Leo murmured, disappearing in orbs. He reappeared with Book. He began to flip through pages, Piper and Prue situating themselves on either side of him.

"What are you looking for?" Prue asked.

"You Dad said he saw a shadow in the basement before Phoebe went down. I'm looking to see if it's in the book," Leo answered. He found nothing.

"Grams used to tell us a story about a shadow in the basement," Prue said, trying to think.

"Phoebe is afraid of the basement. And Grams told us a story about how to get rid of the shadow," Piper added.

"Do you remember the story?" Leo asked, sounding hopeful.

"Something about a shadow…and a light," Piper muttered.

"And going through a shadow " Prue added.

"Phoebe knows it really good. She memorized it," Piper commented.

"Well….unfortunately I think Phoebe is not herself right now. She is evil," Leo explained.

"My daughter is evil….again?" Victor groaned. Just then Phoebe's voice rang out.

"Help! Somebody help!" she cried out. Prue and Piper were on their feet, heading for the basement, Victor behind them. Leo stopped them.

"She wants to trick you," he pressed upon them.

"But we have to help her," Prue retorted.

"Maybe we can make her tell us the story," Piper suggested. The pair walked down the stairs in the basement.

"Phoebe," they called out. Footsteps echoed behind them and they turned to see their sister staring at them.

"You are so easy to trick," she snickered.

"Phoebe…remember that story Grams told us about the shadow…about the Woogey?" Prue asked.

"No!" Phoebe answered, her eyes flashing, as if begging them for help.

"Sure you do. You always remembered it best. Come on, tell us what it is. We want to hear it," Piper begged. Phoebe's body started to shake as she gripped the rail on the side of the stairs.

"I…I am light. I am one too strong to fight," she began to recite.

"No! Phoebe what are you doing?" the shadow roared, becoming visible to all three sisters.

"Return to dark where shadows dwell. You cannot have this Halliwell. So go away and leave my sight," she continued, her voice getting stronger.

"Keep going," Prue urged.

"And take with you this endless night," the five-year-old finished.

"No!" the Woogey wailed, being sucked back into the crack in the floor. The crack sealed itself and Phoebe heaved a huge sigh. Prue and Piper rushed up the stairs and wrapped their arms around her.

"That was so scary," Phoebe whimpered, resting her head on Prue's shoulder.

"But you were really brave. We couldn't have saved you if you didn't' save yourself," she murmured, holding her baby sister close. Victor appeared, wrapping his arms all three of his girls.

"Thank God you're all ok. You get me so scared when things like this happen," he breathed.

"But you always manage to fix it in the end. And that makes me so proud of you," he added as they sat there, happy that everyone was safe and sound once again.


	20. Windy Warfare

_Windy Warfare_

The Underworld was abuzz with demonic chatter about what else; the Charmed Ones. It had been almost a year since they had come into their powers and still no one had managed to take them out. The Source was pacing angrily in his lair.

"Oracle, why have the Charmed Ones not been defeated yet? Is it so hard to best three children?" he snarled. The oracle gave a small sigh, running a finger over the top of her crystal ball.

"Because they are a formidable force, my liege. Their coming was prophesied centuries ago," she answered.

"I know of the prophecy, Oracle. I want to know how to destroy them. They are the only thing that stands in my way," the Source growled. The oracle gazed into her ball, contemplating it for a while.

"You could send Shax after them. He never misses a target," she said with a smirk.

"I could. You are very lucky Oracle. Next time I may not be so forgiving," the Source sneered, running a ringer along her jaw line. With that he flamed out, leaving the Oracle to just roll her eyes.

The Source reappeared to find Shax lurking in the shadows. The demonic assassin turned at the sight of his master, bowing low.

"How may I serve you?" Shax questioned.

"I want you to go after the Charmed Ones. I want them dead," the Source ordered.

"It is done," the demon answered with a smug look on his lips. He would not fail in his mission. He never missed a target.

"It had better be," the Source simpered before disappearing in flames. Shax gave an evil laugh at the though of the task. He had heard rumors of the Charmed Ones' great power but he also knew they were just children.

Back in San Francisco Victor was throwing away all of the wrapping paper from Phoebe's birthday presents. He couldn't believe they were all a year older already. The time had really flown by. He also couldn't believe how much they had grown as witches in the past year. He knew Patty would be proud of them and somehow that made him proud too. Just as he put a new trash bag in the garbage in the kitchen, he heard Piper's voice bellowing from upstairs.

"Phoebe, give it back!" Piper shrieked. Footsteps pounded down the stairs and Phoebe appeared, Piper hot on her heels.

"Whoah, what's going on, girls?" Victor asked, stopping them both in their tracks.

"Phoebe stole the necklace Leo gave me for my birthday," Piper accused.

"I did not," Phoebe shot back, the chain clearly protruding from her pants pocket.

"Phoebe, give your sister back her necklace," Victor scolded. Pouting, the six-year-old handed over the necklace. Piper snatched it back, securing it around her neck.

"I just wanted to wear it with my outfit tomorrow," she whined.

"Well you can't just take things that aren't your. That's stealing, "Victor explained.

"If you wanted to borrow it, you should have asked Piper nicely if you could wear it," he added.

"Sorry, Piper," Phoebe apologized, giving her sister a hug.

"I forgive you. Just don't take it without asking," the nine-year-old replied.

"I promise," Phoebe murmured.

The two sisters left the kitchen, both with smiles on their faces. Victor just shook his head. Policing three kids was never an easy task. He was really starting to understand the hardship of being a single parent. He had to admit he was enjoying being able to raise his girls. Sure he didn't like that magic was involved but he had no control over that. He just had to trust that everything would turn out for the best in the end.

Upstairs Prue was finishing up some science homework. She was on the last question when the phone rang. Oh how she wished she had a phone in her room. She heard Victor pick it up downstairs.

"Prue, phone for you. It's Andy Trudeau," he called up the stairs. Prue's heart skipped a beat at the mention of Andy. She'd done a bit of growing up over the summer and so had he. She sprinted downstairs, taking the phone from his hands.

"Hello?" she spoke into the receiver.

"Hi, Prue. Did you do the science homework yet?" Andy asked from the other end.

"I'm almost done with it," she answered.

"I don't get the first part. Can you explain it to me?" he inquired.

"Sure. Let me get it," she told him, setting the phone down and sprinting back upstairs. Victor just watched in amusement as she returned, setting her book and notebook down. She picked up the phone and spent the next half hour walking him through the entire assignment, question by question. He figured it was just a ploy to talk to Prue. As it neared forty-five minutes, Victor gave her the evil eye.

"I have to go. I will see you tomorrow," she sighed and hung up.

"Is there anything we need to talk about?" Victor asked, sitting down across from her.

"No," she answered, not wanting to discuss her crush on Andy with her father.

"Prue, it's ok to like Andy. You're getting older and that is going to happen," he began.

"Dad, no offense but I don't want to talk about that….with you," she said, looking a little embarrassed.

"Honey, whether you like it or not, I'm the only parent you've got. And you're going to have to talk to me. You're growing up and I know I have to accept that," he countered.

"Ok…but can we just not talk about tonight?" she asked and he nodded. She gave hi a small smile and headed back upstairs.

The next morning dawned and Phoebe sat up, having just had a premonition in her sleep. Her powers were definitely progressing. She'd seen some frightening demon attack, sending Prue sprawling through a wall. She hadn't moved. She hurriedly climbed out of bed, running into her sister's room. She climbed into bed with her sister, making sure she was still alive. Prue woke up when she felt the bed shift.

"Phoebe what are you doing?" Prue asked groggily.

"You're alive," Phoebe sighed.

"Of course I'm alive," Prue grunted.

"I had a premonition…you died. This demon killed you. It was so bad," Phoebe whimpered, tears starting to prick her eyes.

"Shh, it's ok. I'm not dead, Pheebs. Maybe it was just a dream," Prue suggested but Phoebe shook her head.

"It was a premonition. I know what they feel like," the six-year-old retorted.

"Ok, well what time did this demon attack?" Prue asked.

"I think it was night," Phoebe answered, trying to recall the images to the forefront of her mind.

"Alright, so we can figure it out after school. I have a math test today that I can't miss. So come on, get up," Prue muttered. Phoebe slowly climbed out of her sister's bed and headed for her own room. Piper was up, looking groggy. She noticed the nervous expression on Phoebe's face.

"Did I miss something?" she asked.

"Phoebe had a premonition that I die," Prue answered.

"What?" Piper asked, her mouth suddenly dry as sand paper.

"Well it doesn't happen until night time so we can figure it out after school," Prue muttered. Piper just raised an eyebrow at her sister. Far be it for her to question Prue. She was the oldest after all.

The girls went their separate ways to get ready for the day. They ate breakfast in silence. Victor noted their quietness but didn't want to risk disturbing them. He was never quite sure what was going on when they were brooding. He saw them off to school and headed to work. At recess, Phoebe headed off by herself into a secluded area of trees.

"Leo," she called out softly. She waited, hoping he'd heard her. He finally appeared in orbs.

"What's wrong, Phoebe?" he asked, noting the surroundings.

"I had a premonition this morning when I woke up. Prue died…she got killed by a demon," she began.

"Did you tell your sisters?" he asked and she nodded.

"But they didn't care. Piper didn't say anything and Prue said since it happens at night we can worry later," Phoebe informed him.

"But you think you should do something now," he asked.

"I don't want my sister to die," she sighed, looking really upset. He bent down and pulled her into a tight hug.

"I won't let anything happen to you or your sisters," he breathed.

"Thanks, Leo," Phoebe whispered, pulling away.

"What did the demon look like?" he asked.

"it was blue and had long hair," she answered, trying to remember more.

"I think he hit Prue with wind…or lightning bolts," Phoebe added.

"I'll go and check the Book of Shadows. So that way when you get home, she can figure out what to do, ok," he promised. She nodded just as the whistle was blown, calling them in for recess. Phoebe gave him another quick hug and headed back inside. Leo orbed away, a thought already forming in his head.

He got to the Manor and held his hands over the Book. The pages began to flip under his hands until it landed on the page bearing Shax's name. He had thought it might be the Source's personal assassin. This didn't bode well for the girls at all. They had never faced a demon this powerful or ruthless. At least there was a vanquishing spell they could use. He only hoped they would be prepared in time .

The girls arrived home some time later with Victor. Leo walked in from the sun room, Book in head. He gave the girls just enough time to put their back packs down and take off their coats.

"I've done some checking, and I found the demon from Phoebe's premonition," Leo informed them. Phoebe couldn't help but grin.

"What is it?" Piper asked, peering at the book.

"Shax," she read aloud. She scanned the description and shivered.

"He sounds powerful," she commented.

"He is very powerful. He's the most powerful demon you've come up against so far. You need to be prepared. I wrote out three copies of the vanquishing spell," he explained, handing them each a slip of paper.

"He doesn't seem too hard to vanquish," Prue commented off handedly. How wrong she would be. For right then, the front doors to the Manor burst open with a strong gust of wind and Shax swirled in, looking menacing. Phoebe's eyes grew wide as she took the demon in. He was even more frightening in reality. She instinctively clutched Prue's hand, hoping she could keep her sister alive.

"What the hell," Victor rasped.

"The spell girls!" Leo shouted, trying to pull Victor from the line of direct fire. The girls tried to open their mouths but nothing came out. Shax laughed loudly, raising his hand to send them flying backwards. Prue finally snapped out of it and grabbed Piper's hand.

"Evil wind that blows. That which forms below. No longer may you dwell. Death takes you with this spell," she read. Shax grimaced in pain but nothing else happened. She glanced at her sisters.

"Evil wind that blows. That which forms below. No longer may you dwell. Death takes you with this spell," they chanted together. Just as the last word left their lips they were struck with a gust of violent wind. They were all knocked unconscious. Only Victor and Leo saw the demon's demise. He roared in pain as he was torn apart, molecule by molecule.

Leo quickly turned to his young charges. He checked each of them for pulses. They were all still alive. He gently picked each girl up, placing them on a couch and went about healing them. As he healed Piper, her lips parted into a smile and his name issued forth. He couldn't help but smile. He moved to Prue and healed her next, knowing that Phoebe would want to know she was ok. As Phoebe sat up she looked around.

"Is Prue ok?" she asked.

"Prue is fine. You're all ok. And Shax is gone," Leo answered. Prue and Piper walked into the living room, descending on their baby sister.

"Thanks for getting Leo to check this out. If you didn't, we would have been goners," Prue sighed. Phoebe smiled at her sister. She had finally done something to take charge for once and that felt good. She felt like she was really a part of what they had become over the last year.


	21. Date with Destiny

_Date with Destiny_

It was a Saturday in mid November and the girls were getting ready to head to the cemetery. It had been a year since Grams' death and they were going to pay their respects to their grandmother. They were all excited, hoping to share at they had learned with her head stone.

"Come on girls," Victor called. All three came sprinting down the stairs. They were dressed in their best clothes as was Victor. Sure he and Penny didn't always get along but he still owed her a lot in raising the girls after Patty died. They loaded into the car and headed for the cemetery.

"Can we stop at Mom's grave too?" Prue asked as they pulled into the parking lot. Victor nodded. He felt he needed to see her too. They stopped by Patty's grave first.

"Hi Mommy," Phoebe said, bending down and sitting on the grass. It was a little damp but Victor didn't have the heart to scold her.

"We miss you. We're getting big now. We even have our powers," she rambled.

"We tried to summon you one time but it wouldn't work," Prue murmured.

"We love you.," Piper added. She placed a single rose on her mother's grave. They fell silent, just taking in the peacefulness of the hallowed space. Quietly the three girls moved down a few headstones to where Grams now lay. They laid the remainder of the flowers there. Victor was still at his ex-wife's grave.

"I'm doing the best I can with them, Patty. I wish you were here with me. You would know how to handle all their magical messes," he sighed.

"But I guess this is my second chance…to raise our girls," he added.

"I just hope you're watching over them in all of this," he concluded, moving to stand with his daughters.

"We miss you lots Grams. We vanquished the demon that killed you," Phoebe informed the still air.

"We vanquished lots of other demons too. And we have a whitelighter. His name is Leo," Piper continued.

"You'd be proud of us. I just know you would," Prue breathed. Suddenly, before their eyes, the headstone shimmered and Grams' spirit appeared.

"Hello my darlings," she greeted.

"Grams," all three girls gasped.

"Hello Penny," Victor murmured.

"Hello Victor," Penny replied, her usual disdain for him gone from her tone.

"I'm so very proud of you girls. You have done so well this last year. I'm so sorry I had to leave you like that," she gushed.

"Were we always witches?" Piper asked suddenly.

"Yes my dear you were. But I bound your powers when Phoebe was born to protect you. I hadn't planned on unbinding them until you were much older. Until you were ready," Grams explained.

"But they have done tremendously," a familiar voice interjected and in a flash of light, Patty's spirit joined them.

"I'm most proud of you, Phoebe. The power of premonition is such a troubling power and to be able to handle it so young. You give me great hope," Patty murmured, bending down to her daughter. Phoebe rushed forward, surprised when she felt her mother's arms wrap around her.

"You are all so special and there is so much more for you to come," she breathed, beckoning her older daughters to her. Prue and Piper joined in the hug. She gave each of them a kiss on the forehead before standing up.

"I must say, Victor, you've handled this better than I had expected…being mortal and all," Penny commented.

"Oh Mother, must you go into that?" Patty begged.

"What?" Penny remarked.

"I'll take it as a compliment, Penny," Victor said with a smile.

"Well I may have not wanted a magical life for my girls but it was going to happen sooner or later. I guess I've just had to accept that," he continued.

"And you've done so very well," Patty said, pulling him close and kissing him lightly on the cheek.

"Grams, why couldn't we summon you when we tried?" Prue asked.

"Well dear, I'm afraid you weren't over my death yet. Your mothers either. It will take time. We felt that you deserved this visit after all you've been through. In time you will be able to summon us both," she assured her oldest granddaughter.

"Good. Maybe they can talk to you about all the things girls are supposed to talk about with their mothers….like boys," Victor sighed, giving Prue a wink. She just shook her head.

"What's this about a boy?" Patty asked excitedly.

"Nothing," Prue answered, blushing a little. Grams looked at her daughter and Patty nodded.

"We have to go my beautiful girls. But we love you and are always watching over you," Patty promised, giving them each another kiss before she and Grams disappeared.

The four Halliwells stood in silence for a little while longer before silently heading back to the car. The drive home was reverent. They were all still in awe at what they had seen. Phoebe was still glowing from her mother's praise about handling her power so well.

Down in the Underworld the Source was once again livid. Shax had failed him. His best demonic assassin had been ripped to pieces and sent to the wasteland by a bunch of children!

"I know you're frustrated," the oracle commented, appearing.

"Do not tell me how I feel, Oracle," the Source ground out.

"Sorry, but it's what I do," she giggled.

"I do not see what benefit you serve in letting you live. You have also failed me several times," he hissed.

"Well you know the old saying…if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself," the Oracle said with a smile.

"Now you are making sense. Why send useless minions in to my own job. I shall bring them down and good magic shall bow before me," the Source cackled.

With that he disappeared in flames. He would attack when they were least expecting it. He had sensed they were distracted by the anniversary of their grandmother's death. They would not be expecting a demon attack. He waited, hidden in the attic to surprise them. With them out of the way, he could surely gain access to their Book of Shadows. He could even take in the Nexus if he do desired, using the sacred ground for evil instead of good.

The girls were sitting in front of the TV, flipping through late morning cartoons. Nothing really seemed to interest them. Prue sighed, turning the set off and tossing the remote on the table.

"Want to go browse the book?" she asked her sisters. She was suddenly in the mood to be close to their magical heritage after the visit from their Mom and Grams.

"Yeah…I want to see what else is in it that we haven't seen yet," Piper answered. Together they headed upstairs, not sensing the impending threat that awaited them. However, as soon as they walked into the room, Phoebe felt a shiver run up her spine.

"Something is wrong," she said softly. Prue and Piper turned to look at her.

"What do you mean?" they asked.

"Something evil is here. I can feel it," she answered.

The Source watched the exchange, trying to decide when to reveal himself. Now seemed an opportune moment. With a smirk he unmasked himself, making Phoebe jump.

"I told you something evil was here," she said, her finger pointing shakily at the demon.

"What do you want?" Prue asked, putting herself in front of both of her siblings.

"To rid the world of the culmination of the Warren line," he hissed. All three girls looked at him in confusion.

"Who?" Prue asked. The Source rolled his eyes.

"To destroy you," he said, giving them a 'duh' look. Prue nodded in understanding and tired to send him flying but he barely moved.

"Not so touch are you," he sneered. Piper was about to open her mouth to ask who exactly he was when Phoebe answered her question.

"He's the Source," the six-year-old blurted.

"How did you know that?" Piper questioned.

"It was like someone told me," Phoebe answered with a shrug. They just noticed that the Source was now barring their way to the Book of Shadows. Prue tried to move it from behind him but it was as if his power was blocking her.

"Try to freeze him," she told Piper. Piper's hands flew out but he deflected her attempts.

"I can't," she rasped, genuine fear seeping into every inch of her body. They all stood there just staring at each other. The Source formed a fire ball, bouncing it like a basketball in his palm. He sent it flying but they all ducked just in time. He didn't give them time to react. He sent a volley of fire at them, scattering them to different corners of the room. One grazed Piper's shoulder. She looked down to see blood and cringed. She hated blood.

"Piper!" Prue called, seeing her injured shoulder. She tried to get to Piper's side of the room but was stopped this time by an energy ball. Piper managed to crawl behind the couch and catch her breath. Suddenly she heard a voice inside her head, saying a spell. She closed her eyes, trying to concentrate. She slowly began to recite it aloud, not sure exactly what it would do.

"Prudence, Patricia, Penelope, Melinda," she began to chant. Prue had also heard the voie in her head. It sounded an awful lot like Grams.

"Astrid, Helena, Laura and Grace," she joined in. Phoebe finally heard what was going on.

"Halliwell witches stand strong beside us," she joined in as well.

"Vanquish this evil from time and space," they all concluded together. The Source started to writhe in pain but did not vanquish. The absence of flying fire balls gave the girls the opportunity to reunite and say the spell in its entirety together.

"Prudence, Patricia, Penelope, Melinda. Astrid, Helena, Laura and Grace. Halliwell witches stand strong beside us. Vanquish this evil through time and space," they chanted loudly and confidently. The Source was now in sufficient agony. He cried out, his hood falling, revealing his grotesque features. They all had to look away as he was torn to pieces in flame, leaving a dark scorch mark on the floor. Victor had heard the screams and crashes and just made it upstairs. He took note of the ruined furniture and scorch mark on the floor.

"Demon?" he asked.

"The Source," Prue answered, out of breath just as Leo orbed.

"You vanquished the Source?" he asked, sounding impressed. She nodded as he tended to Piper's shoulder.

"He was the most powerful demon in the Underworld. That is a very big accomplishment," he commended them.

"I think your mother and grandmother would definitely be proud of you for that big a feat," Victor added. The girls couldn't help but smile. They all now realized that it had been the help of their mother and grandmother's spirits that had given them the vanquishing spell. It had been their gift to the girls, to make sure their one year anniversary was memorable. Prue looked at her sisters and together they recited the vanishing spell to fix up the room. With that completed, Prue turned her gaze upwards towards the ceiling. She could feel a distinct presence in the attic with them. She knew that presence would not be going anywhere for a very long time.

"Thanks Grams," she murmured, swearing she could see Grams faintly standing behind the Book of Shadows.


End file.
